FAQ
What is the Mentee participation timeline?
All items within a season are listed in order of occurrence.
- Year 1:
- Winter/ Spring: Consent, Baseline Survey, Mentor Contact Information Survey
- Summer: ESM Surveys
- Year 2:
- Spring: First Follow-Up Survey
- Year 4
- Spring: Second Follow-Up Survey
What is the Mentor participation timeline?
- Year 1
- Winter/ Spring: Consent, Baseline Survey, eLearning Modules
- Year 2
- Spring: Follow-up survey
Why were these 8 sites chosen?
The Project PIs, Dr. Vineet Arora and Dr. Rachel Wolfson, are affiliated with the University of Chicago Medicine and the Pritzker School of Medicine. They both also retain leadership positions within the Scholarly Concentrations Collaborative (SCC). The SCC is a group composed of leaders in medical education, working to improve and grow opportunities for student research and discovery. The aim of this multi-center collaborative, is to share ideas and strengthen the structure of student scholarly programs in medical education.
Each of the other seven sites were chosen from amongst SCC members and represent diverse student populations and geographic locations.
Who can I contact if I have additional questions?
Potential participants or those who currently enrolled may address all concerns to the Project Manager, Aviva Klein, at Boostingmentors@bsd.uchicago.edu.
What is Experience Sampling Method (ESM)?
ESM is a longitudinal research procedure that involves the collection of data in real time in order to better capture the subjective experiences of participants. Mentees will download a free, open source application designed for ESM data collection on their smartphone. The application will prompt mentees to repeatedly answer a short survey over the course of two , non adjacent weeks in their summer research experience (or primary research block, if this does not occur over the summer between Year 1 and Year 2 of medical school).
How was the inclusion criteria for medical students determined?
This study includes groups known to be under-represented in NIH funding, as demonstrated in the NIH Physician Scientist Work Force Report (2014). These groups include individuals who identify as women/non-binary, Black or African-American, Hispanic, Latino or of Spanish Origin, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. We hypothesize that improved mentoring for MD-only students from these backgrounds will increase science identity and intent for a research career, ultimately addressing the disparities noted in the NIH Report.