Achievement Award for Mentoring Residents

For assistant, associate or full professors with three or more years at KU SOM.

The SOM Executive Dean's Achievement Award for Mentoring Residents is earned by assistant, associate and full professor members of the faculty and is based upon the number of residents mentored and the outcomes or examples of their efforts as identified by those submitting letters. The award is designed to allow residents and resident alumni a way to honor those faculty Mentors who embody both the letter and spirit of mentoring during their residency programs. This prestigious award acknowledges the time, sacrifice, and commitments of faculty members to ensure our residents achieve their full academic or private practice potential by developing skills and attaining advancement in the clinical, research and teaching areas required for success in their chosen career path.

Recipients of this prestigious award earn membership in The University of Kansas School of Medicine Society of Distinguished Mentors.

MENTORING, as defined for the purpose of this award, does not include routine and expected effort with regard to" teaching or training" Residents as described or required by the guidelines of the faculty members position. This award recognizes effort which goes above and beyond "teaching or training" requirements of an assistant, associate or full professor. Mentees are Residents or Medical Fellows, as defined for the purpose of this award.

Criteria

• To qualify as a candidate for the Achievement Award for Mentoring Residents the individual must: 
  • be a professor, associate professor, or assistant professor in the KU SOM.
  • be a member of the KU SOM faculty for more than three years.
  • not be serving as a member of the Dean's office.
  • have mentored a substantial number (five or more) of residents over the years.
  • be scholars with demonstrated success in the areas they mentor.
• Candidates must have evidence of superb performance in mentoring Residents. For example: 
  • Accessibility and commitment to "be there".
  • Willingness to assist residents in pursuit of their stated goals, actively guiding development of clinical and/or surgical skills, teaching skills, research and pursuit of professional goals toward academic or private medicine, clearly articulating expectations.
  • Demonstrates the ability to integrate resident feedback into action.
  • Provides a confidential atmosphere for the resident/fellow to discuss issues.
  • Excellent guidance of individual research and/or creative projects.
  • Holds their mentee to high standards, encouraging and helping them establish their own record of scholarly activity or clinical performance, evidence of supporting the mentee's participation in academic events (e.g., meetings, conferences, committees, speaking engagements).
  • Ability to involve their mentees in networking activities with other professionals and faculty
  • Evidence of mentees completing their defined projects (such as successful competition for grants, completion of publications or other scholarly activity, marked improvement in overall aptitude, meeting promotional goals) in a timely manner.
• The award will be based on the following criteria:
  • Demonstrated valued behavior, attitudes and/or skills that aid the mentees in achieving competence, confidence and a clear professional identity
  • A demonstrated commitment to fostering the intellectual, creative, scholarly and professional growth of their mentees so they may function effectively and with measurable success once their residency or medical fellowship program has been completed.
  • Evidence of sustained commitment (two years or more) to a professional mentoring relationship that results in career growth or personal development of five or more mentees who are/were residents or medical fellows.
  •  To further recognize the successful efforts of the candidate, the success and progress of the recipients of their mentoring will be reviewed. 
  • Candidates may hold the award more than once, but not within a five-year period.

Directions

Nomination Packet Requirements

The individual who prepares the nomination packet for submission, must:

1. Write a letter nominating your candidate that provides:
   • A clear delineation of what your mentor has meant to you (or to residents you know they mentored).
   • Description of specific behaviors and their significance.
   • Specific examples of mentoring interactions.
   • Description of accomplishments that you directly credit to the influence of the nominated mentor.
   • A statement providing a simple explanation of your work (or a resident or alumni ) directly or indirectly influenced by the candidate, dating from the mentorship relationship(s).
   • Give specific examples of goals attained, projects completed, promotions, grants or awards earned, obstacles overcome and lessons learned in addition to anything else that they feel is attributable to the mentoring relationship. It is strongly encouraged that this area of accomplishments be emphasized.
   • See List of Questions to Consider when writing a letter. 
2. Ask for a letter of support for your candidate from their chair, director, and professional colleagues and as many of the candidate's current or alumni resident mentees (one letter from an alumni is required). Ask each of them to:
   • Write a letter giving concrete examples of what this candidate's mentoring time and effort has meant to the careers and career paths of their residents/alumni, referring them to the List of Questions to Consider
   • The success and progress of the residents and alumni mentored will be reviewed from the letters submitted and should provide a copy of their CVs to allow the selection committee to further recognize the successful efforts of the candidate, (CV up-to-date within the last 6 months)
3. Ask the candidate to write a statement explaining his or her Mentoring Philosophy (maximum one page) and include it in your nomination packet. Without this statement, the packet will be disqualified.
4. Submit the nomination packet as a single pdf document including, as the first page of the PDF, the MENTORING AWARD NOMINATION COVER SHEET. CVs do not need to be saved in the "pdf packet" and may be individual attachments in your email submission to:
   
   Ms. Marty McLaughlin, Associate Director
   Office of Professional Development and Faculty Affairs, SOM
   Email address: mmclaughlin@kumc.edu
   Phone Number: 913-588-1381 or cell (913) 787-1707

Selection

• Critical to the assessment of the nominees:
  • Extent of mentoring
  • Apparent quality of mentoring judged by outcome measures assessed from:
    • The achievements of those mentored including publications, awards, honors and prizes, and the career paths during or since the conclusion of the resident's mentorship.
    • Letters of support from additional current or former Mentees of the candidate, especially from alumni who were mentored during their residency or fellowship program.
    • Other statements of support (e.g. Department Chairs, Center Directors and Division Chiefs).
    • The collegiality of the mentoring experience and the desirable characteristics of the mentoring environment (assessed from statements of support).
• Nominations will be reviewed and selected by the Mentoring Awards Committee Members chaired by the Associate Dean for Professional Development and Faculty Affairs. The committee comprises various professional levels from an interdisciplinary arena along with past recipients of all the Mentoring Award categories. 
• Final selection will be by the Executive Dean, School of Medicine, University of Kansas.

Award & Presentation

• $1,500 each award
• Trophy
• Presented by the Executive Dean at the Annual Faculty Retreat in the fall.
• Membership in The University of Kansas School of Medicine Society of Distinguished Mentors.