The Women in PEM Mentorship Families Program 

What is a Mentorship Family? A small group of Women in PEM members who are interested in peer mentorship and sharing of experiences to support and promote one another.

Why mentorship families? Clinicians who experience positive mentorship are less likely to experience burn out, and more likely to have career success and job retention. Women in medicine have reported gender-centric obstacles to career success and satisfaction, including a lack of mentors and role models.

Who should join a Mentorship Families? Anyone! The Women in PEM Mentorship Families program is intended for senior, mid and junior level Women in PEM. The AAP and Women in PEM recognizes that our membership is comprised of a broad and diverse community. We are strengthened by our diversity. The variety of skills, characteristics, and attributes offered by our members creates the vitality and success of our organizations and improves the care of all children and youth. Maximizing the diversity of our members and leaders allows us to benefit from the rich talents and different perspectives of these individuals. We hope to promote diversity and inclusiveness among all the individuals in our mentorship families and encourage discussion of this topic area at your meetings.

The Details:

Program Objectives:

• To foster a feeling of community amongst Women in PEM across various geographic-, age-, and practice-related differences, and facilitate connectedness in a professional network

• To identify shared resources that may allow Women in PEM to develop meaningful and successful mentoring relationships

• To provide evidence-based resources for Women in PEM to facilitate career advancement, as well as professional and personal satisfaction

Timeline:  1 year program

• Quarterly virtual meetings with flipped classroom format

• Option for in-person meetings

What’s Involved:

The WiP Mentorship/Sponsorship committee will:

• Solicit for interest in joining mentorship family

• Create families of Women in PEM with similar interests

• Identify a Family Leader to assist with scheduling

• Share resources for discussion for 3 quarterly meetings

o   Mentorship– benefits of mentorship, how to be a good mentor/mentee, building a network

o   Career Development – Career advancement and transitions, social media branding

o   Wellness – Work life integration

• The last meeting is “Choose your own adventure” – Family to choose topic of interest

Each Mentorship Family will:

• Commit to scheduling at least 4 meetings during the year

• Rotate members assigned to lead each meeting and help facilitate discussion

• Provide feedback about group meetings and the program via surveys sent from the WiP team