Discussing mentorship: An ongoing study for the development of a mentorship program in Saskatchewan.

Objective: To identify the essential components of a mentorship program as the first step in the ongoing development of a mentorship program for primary care physicians.

Design: Mixed-methods study.

Setting: Saskatchewan.

Participants: Forty-nine of 170 physicians responded positively to a letter of invitation. Of these, 25 physicians were purposively sampled based on location, sex, and experience. Fourteen participants practised in urban areas and 11 in rural settings; 11 were men and 14 were women; and 10 were junior physicians and 15 were senior. Junior physicians were defined as those who had graduated from medical school after 1995, and senior physicians were those who had graduated before 1980.

Methods: This study employed qualitative, in-depth, semistructured interviews. Interview questions, based on an environmental scan, were developed then pilot-tested with a family physician. Interviews lasted approximately 60 minutes and were audiotaped. Digital audio files were transcribed verbatim and analyzed thematically.

Main Findings: Family physicians described positive and negative aspects of mentoring, or having a lack of experience with mentoring. They also outlined key components of a potential mentorship program: matching mentees with mentors; integrating formal and informal mentorship; and the evaluation process of the mentorship relationship and program.

Conclusion: Based on the feedback from family physicians, mentorship is viewed as an important and meaningful program of action that regional health stakeholders and medical educators in Saskatchewan could implement. A pilot test of a mentorship program model will be the culmination of this study. Further research will be undertaken to evaluate the model once it is implemented. This will have important implications for establishing a national mentorship program for family physicians across the country.