Underrepresented in Medicine Initiative

STFM URM Mentor Criteria

Faculty members who are:

• Able to prioritize time for the mentor-mentee relationship
• Mid- or late-career position in academic medicine
• A current member of STFM

Mentor Expectations:

All URM Mentorship Program mentors will be expected to:

• Participate in monthly virtual meetings with their mentee
• Set professional goals with their mentee
• Complete a portfolio as a record of tasks discussed with their mentee (ex. curriculum development, beginning of an article, presentation, self-care plan, career development plan, etc.).
• Attend 6 virtual meetings with a community of mentees and mentors over the course of a year (September 2024–September 2025)

The application window for the 2024–2025 program cycle is currently closed.

Please include the following document in your application:

• The Mentor Application (available when the application window is open)

Email your questions and applications to Jenni Minor at jminor@stfm.org. The orientation meeting will be held via zoom in August 2024.

Mentor Testimonials:

• It has been a delight serving as a mentor in [the URM Mentorship Program]. This is my second year with the program. The relationships we develop are warm, supportive and engaging. It is gratifying to give back to STFM and our colleagues with love, curiosity, resource identification, support and encouragement. The conversations do not shy away from the particular challenges of working in educational programs plagued by racism, sexism, hurtful aggressions and differential access to power and resources. The feedback I have received from the participants has been universally positive. In fact, I continue to meet with last year’s mentee on a monthly basis.   
• It has been a wonderful experience to support URiM faculty through mentorship. Being a URiM faculty member, I understand the value of mentorship by URiM faculty. I have had powerful experiences receiving mentorship throughout my academic medicine career and I am humbled to provide mentorship to others to hopefully, also experience something powerful in this bi-directional process.
• It's refreshing to see the excitement, feel the energy, and participate in the iterative process of growth and development. Setting aside dedicated time to assist a junior faculty in their professional development brings joy and insight to me on my professional journey. Sharing resources, techniques and building relationships is important for the growth of the mentees and for me. This helps to keep my fire ignited too.

Mentee Testimonials:

• [The URM Mentorship Program] was a great experience for me. [It] helped me in decreasing some anxieties in my behavioral role working in family medicine. In the beginning, dealing with doctors was intimidating for me. … However, the process with [my mentor] and with you allowed me to believe in my strengths and feel more confident… Also, [the URM Mentorship Program] was an amazing support to understand how my Latinx ethnicity can add value to the complex relationships we have in academic medicine today. Finally, even though the experience was virtual I was able to develop great relationships with other early-career professionals that I think will stay for the rest of my professional life. 
• In addition to professional advice, [the URM Mentorship Program] provided a space in our mentorship relationships to also explore some of the personal and nuanced “whys” behind motives for professional advancement.
  It was a pleasant surprise to receive feedback from my mentor that encouraged me to still see the big picture while making room for life to happen. In a world and profession as fast paced as ours, it is challenging to recognize that professional growth can still happen when you pace yourself and enjoy the process.
• I have received so much support from [my mentor] and other mentors in this program over the last year. Thank you again for the opportunity to participate. It has truly made a difference! My relationship with my mentor helped me to identify my short and long term academic goals and then begin the steps to pursue them.  Prior to this experience, I hadn’t really taken the time to sit down and think about what my focus was in academics- I am grateful that my mentor provided the guidance on how to find this focus and then the space for me to formulate my path. I also appreciate the sponsorship and one-on-one conversations by my mentor and others within the [URM Mentorship Program] group that afforded the opportunity to begin participating in scholarly work and advancing in my academic career.