What is the Evidence for Mentorship?

This introductory chapter of Mentorship in Academic Medicine sets the stage for mentorship discussion providing the definitions and terminology that the authors have used throughout the book. In particular, the chapter outlines the scope for the discussion in the remaining chapters, including what mentorship is and isn't, and helps to provide the “case for mentorship” based on the relevant evidence. The focus of the book is on academic medicine, including clinicians who work in universities and academic health science centres. The book presents some ways to think about mentors, mentees, mentoring strategies and tactics, and how to develop and monitor a mentorship program. Mentorship claims to develop and maintain faculty who are productive, satisfied, collegial, and socially responsible. In a survey of mentors for medical students, mentorship was reported to reinvigorate interest and lead to personal and professional growth.