Mentoring the Mentors: Perception of Mentoring in Female Public Health Students and Academic Public Health Faculty

Mentoring has been addressed extensively in many fields including medicine and the basic sciences. Particularly the need for mentoring females and underrepresented minorities in these disciplines has been on the agenda for institutions to increase faculty diversity. However, the peer reviewed literature on mentoring for public health students and faculty in academic public health is limited. The positive benefits of mentoring include career satisfaction, promotion, research success and publications. Academic public health is changing with increased teaching and administrative responsibilities. Lack of mentors can affect faculty career satisfaction and productivity and result in attrition. Effective mentoring may help to increase career satisfaction and reduce faculty burnout. In 1994, the Academic Public Health Caucus of the American Public Health Association was formed to discuss academic health practice and provide support for the field. Additionally, a number of mentorship programs have been instituted to promote public health but there is little information in the literature on the usage of these programs and impact on career outcomes particularly the field of academic public health. Anecdotal evidence suggests that faculty in academic public health are involved in mentoring students and other faculty. However, little is known about formal mentorship of public health students and who is mentoring the mentors - the faculty. The purpose of this workshop is to engage in open dialogue about mentoring challenges and opportunities for female public health students and faculty. At the conclusion of this workshop we would have developed themes of issues and formed a potential framework for solutions.