SHM’s Practice Administrators Committee piloted a mentor/mentee program in January 2014 as a way to assist those who were new to practice administration and/or to hospital medicine. SHM is continuing with the program and is now accepting enrollment for the fall of 2015.
The committee first learned of the interest among practice administrators in a mentorship program by monitoring communications within the Hospital Medicine Exchange (HMX) online community. The pilot program was developed in response to this significant interest.
Committee members volunteered to be mentors in the program’s first year, in an effort to provide a structured opportunity for hospitalist administrators seeking to strengthen their knowledge and skills. Today, the program consists of two models:
- Mentors/Mentees: Less experienced administrators will be paired with seasoned professionals to gain more experience and/or exposure.
- Buddy System: Administrators at any level of expertise or experience will be paired with a peer so that they can learn from one another.
How Does the Program Work?
Both mentors and mentees complete an online profile, which is used by the committee to match up appropriate individuals based on type of institution and skills that need to be improved. Once the matches are completed, mentors and mentees will be asked to attend an online webinar in order to understand the expectations for the mentor and the mentee, including the length of the commitment and the expected frequency of contact with each other.
A survey will be circulated to follow up with the mentors and mentees. Information gleaned from the survey will ensure that the mentor-mentee relationship is intact and will offer an opportunity to provide feedback on the program’s performance.
Tiffani Panek is manager of the division of hospital medicine and program director of the academic hospital medicine training program at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore. She is a member of SHM’s Practice Administrators Committee.
