ESTRO 2023

Session Item

Saturday

May 13

16:45 - 17:45

Schubert

Education and training / Professional development

Co-Chair: Samaneh Shoraka, United Kingdom;

Chair: Sandra Turner, Australia

Session Code: 1480

Session Type: Proffered Papers

Track: Interdisciplinary

17:15 - 17:25

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

, The Netherlands

Presentation Number: OC-0257

Abstract

Abstract Title:

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.