Development and Retention of Early-Career Clinician-Scientists through a Novel Peer Mentorship Program: Multidisciplinary Intensive Care Research Workgroup

Background: Early-career clinician-scientists often leave academic medicine, but strong mentorship can help facilitate retention. Beyond the traditional dyadic mentor-mentee relationship, formal peer mentoring provides a rich means to augment career development and foster independence. Objective: To describe a model for early-career peer mentorship and the retention of participating early-career clinician-scientists in academic medicine. Methods: In 2015, a multidisciplinary and interprofessional group of early-career clinician-scientists focused on critical care developed a peer mentoring group at the University of Michigan called the MICReW (Multidisciplinary Intensive Care Research Workgroup). We describe the establishment, sustainability, guiding principles, challenges, and successes of MICReW. Results: MICReW was established to be a formal, peer-only mentoring group without the direct participation of senior mentors. The purpose of MICReW was to support and promote the research and career development of early-career clinician-scientists by creating an environment that fostered diverse opinions, constructive feedback, and camaraderie. As a group, we wrote a mission statement and defined our guiding principles. Our sustainability, growth, and adaptability (seamlessly transitioning to all virtual meetings) were possible by the continued investment of our peer members. To date, MICReW has had 30 members, of whom 15 are current members and approximately half are women. Nearly all members (n = 29/30) remain in academic positions, and half (n = 15) have been awarded career development awards. Most members also report significant benefits from being a member of MICReW. Conclusion: The MICReW peer mentorship model is a sustainable and adaptable peer mentoring model whose members continue to be engaged in academic medicine.

Automated summary

This article describes a model for early-career peer mentorship and its impact on the retention of early-career clinician-scientists in academic medicine. The model, called MICReW, focuses on creating an environment that fosters diverse opinions, constructive feedback, and camaraderie, resulting in a sustainable and adaptable peer mentoring relationship. The majority of MICReW members remain in academic positions and have benefited significantly from their participation.