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Vienna, Austria

ESTRO 2023

Session Item

Saturday
May 13
16:45 - 17:45
Schubert
Education and training / Professional development
Samaneh Shoraka, United Kingdom;
Sandra Turner, Australia
Proffered Papers
Interdisciplinary
17:15 - 17:25
Career advancement through mentoring; final evaluation of the ESTRO pilot mentoring program
Jolien Heukelom, The Netherlands
OC-0257

Abstract

Career advancement through mentoring; final evaluation of the ESTRO pilot mentoring program
Authors:

Jolien Heukelom1, Jesper Grau Eriksen2, Amanda Webster3, Bartlomiej Tomasik4, Daan Nevens5, Jenny Bertholet6, Kathrine Røe Redalen7, Ludwig J Dubois8, Pierfrancesco Franco9, Sophie Perryck10, Steven Petit11

1GROW - School for Oncology and Reproduction, Maastricht University Medical Centre+, Department of Radiation Oncology (Maastro), Maastricht, The Netherlands; 2Aarhus University Hospital, Department of radiation oncology, Aarhus, Denmark; 3University College London Hospital , Radiotherapy and Proton Beam Therapy, London, United Kingdom; 4Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Gdansk, Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy, Gdansk, Poland; 5Iridium Network, Wilrijk, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Department of Radiation Oncology, Antwerp, Belgium; 6Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, and University of Bern, Division of Medical Radiation Physics and Department of Radiation Oncology, Bern, Switzerland; 7Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Department of Physics, Trondheim, Norway; 8GROW - School for Oncology and Reproduction, Maastricht University, The M-Lab, Dept of Precision Medicine, Maastricht, The Netherlands; 9University of Eastern Piedmont, Department of Translational Sciences (DIMET), Novara, Italy; 10University Hospital Zurich, Department of radiation oncology, Zurich, Switzerland; 11Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Department of Radiotherapy, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

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Purpose or Objective

The importance of mentorship for healthcare professionals is well recognized. However, many radiation oncology (RO) professionals in Europe do not have access to a structured mentoring program. Therefore, the yESTRO Committee initiated a pilot mentoring program in collaboration with the ESTRO Education Council (EDC). The goal of the project was to gain experience with mentorship within ESTRO, to evaluate the satisfaction among the involved mentors and mentees and to ascertain how to set up a permanent ESTRO mentoring program.

Material and Methods

Eighteen mentors were recruited based on recommendations by and endorsement of volunteers from the ESTRO Standing Committees. An open call for mentees was launched. Fourteen mentees were selected based on independent scoring performed by three yESTRO members evaluating the applicants’ curriculum vitae and motivation letter. At the kickoff meeting during ESTRO 2021 in Madrid, two speed dating sessions (on-site and online) were held, consisting of four unstructured 10-minute conversations between mentees and possible mentors. Each mentee was assigned to four mentors for speed dating according to a preselection by the mentee. After the speed dating, all mentees were asked to provide a top 3 list, after which couples were formalized by yESTRO.
The commitment that was agreed upon was a minimum of 4 meetings of 1 hour within a 1-year period, and participation in the evaluation. The evaluation took place after speed dating, at mid-term and at the end of the pilot program.

Results

Of the 14 mentees, one mentee did not attend the speed dating and was excluded from the program. Of the remaining 13 mentees, 9 were assigned the mentor of their first choice and 4 of their second. One mentee never contacted its mentor, so finally 12 couples participated.


One couple discontinued the collaboration within the first months after the speed dating due to personal circumstances, after which the mentee was coupled to the mentees’ second choice mentor. The first evaluation consisted of normative feedback regarding logistics, response times and the speed dating session. The mid-term and last evaluation consisted of feedback regarding the entire program and its perceived effect on the mentees’ career.


Eleven out of 12 mentees and 10 out of 11 mentors filled in the final evaluation form. The overall results of the program were very positive (Figure 1), with the mentees and mentors scoring the program with an average score of 8.9 and 9.0, respectively, on a scale from 0 to 10. All participants would recommend the program to others, and almost all expected the program to have a positive effect on the career of the mentee. Moreover, both mentees and mentors commented the program to be rewarding, instrumental to personal and professional growth and wellbeing.



Conclusion

The ESTRO pilot mentoring program was perceived as very successful and rewarding for both mentees and mentors. Therefore, from 2023 onwards, the program will be organized annually by yESTRO and EDC.