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Abstract Mentoring is a powerful tool for personal and professional development (Burgess A, van Diggele C, Mellis C. Mentorship in the health professions: a review. Clin Teach 2018; 15: 197–202). It is strongly advocated by the Royal College of Physicians. Several mentorship schemes have been created for doctors interested in competitive specialities. Dermatology remains one of the most competitive specialties, yet to the best of our knowledge, there are no mentoring schemes for junior doctors interested in dermatology in the UK. The aim of our project was to successfully launch a dermatology mentorship scheme to help mentees take control of their own career journey, while enabling mentors to build on their leadership skills. In 2022, a pilot dermatology scheme was created in Cardiff, matching foundation and core trainees to dermatology registrars. There were six delegates in the pilot. With the success of a pilot, where 100% of delegates felt that the scheme was beneficial to their career and progression, the mentorship scheme was expanded to include the whole of South Wales. The scheme was advertised through junior doctor groups on Facebook and through postgraduate medical education centres for mentees. In total, 23 delegates signed up to the 2023 scheme: 12 mentees and 11 mentors. A virtual mentoring workshop was held for all delegates and this was well received. Delegates were also provided with a mentoring contract to use. Initial survey results showed that 100% (n = 12) of mentees felt they had not yet been exposed to enough potential mentors at work or at medical school. Overall, 92% (n = 12) stated that they did not yet have a mentor-like figure, 67% (n = 8) of delegates stated that not having a scheme available was one of the reasons for not having a mentor, and 82% (n = 9) of the mentors wanted to develop their leadership skills through the scheme. Informal feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Formal feedback will be welcomed in May 2024 to make improvements to the scheme for the following year. Our project shows that there is demand for mentorship in dermatology. We hope that the successful establishment of our scheme paves the way for mentorship schemes to be set up locally to help inspire and support the next generation of dermatologists.
Winter et al. (Fri,) studied this question.