Quick to connect: a comparison of virtual and in-person speed mentoring for emergency medicine medical students, residents by faculty at a national conference.

Abstract

Background: Mentorship is vital to foster personal and professional growth. Speed mentoring is a newer model of mentorship that introduces trainees to several potential mentors. The Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) hosts a speed mentoring event at its annual meeting. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual meeting transitioned to a virtual format. This study compares participants' attitudes towards in-person and virtual speed mentoring.

Methods: Medical students, residents, and faculty mentors completed a biographical sheet to inform pairings and to facilitate discussion. The same anonymous event evaluation was administered to the participants during both the in-person (SAEM19) and virtual speed mentoring event (SAEM21). We assessed whether there were significant differences in viewpoints of participants of the two formats using Fischer's Exact Test for each question by role and performed a thematic analysis on the free-text question.

Results: The response rates for mentors and mentees were 89.6% (43/48) and 77.1% (37/48) for SAEM19, and 76.9% (10/13) and 84.6% (11/13) for SAEM21, respectively. Participants responded similarly to all (p > 0.05) but one question. Mentors were more neutral that the event helped them feel more comfortable around trainees at the conference (p = 0.01). Otherwise, participants indicated the event was enjoyable, planned to participate again, and felt empowered to make further connections outside of the event. Free responses underscored these themes and suggested increasing time per encounter.

Conclusions: Virtual speed mentoring is a feasible and effective alternative to in-person speed mentoring and may be a helpful adjunct to in-person mentoring.