Telementorship, feedback, and completion of assignments in the post-pandemic surgery clerkship

Purpose U.S. medical schools pivoted to sustain clinical learning during the pandemic. Formative feedback via student–mentor teleconference persisted as students resumed in-person clinical learning. We aimed to assess timely completion of assignments, student satisfaction, and career interest with and without a formal telementorship program. Methods Students in the Surgery clerkship July 2021–January 2022 received a faculty mentor assignment (FMA) at each orientation. Those in May 2020–July 2021 comprised a historical cohort (HC). Each FMA student was advised to teleconference with their mentor mid-clerkship and feedback was documented. HC students sought mid-clerkship feedback from faculty ad libitum, and faculty submitted paper evaluations. FMA students received surveys of satisfaction with the telementorship system. At clerkship end, both groups received surveys of satisfaction with ability to share concerns anonymously, perceived value of reporting concerns, timeliness of the clerkship’s response, and surgical career interest. We compared FMA and HC proportions completing required assignments before the grading deadline, satisfied with feedback processes, and interested in surgery. Results Each clerkship, HC students received evaluations from at least 26 faculty members, and the FMA student cohort was assigned 12–16 faculty mentors. All FMA students completed assignments on time. Most in the FMA group (72%) reported satisfaction in discussing career goals via teleconference. Comparing groups, two satisfaction trends favored FMA but were not statistically significant. Conclusions Formal telementorship was associated with 100% completion of Surgery clerkship assignments in time for grading. This format allows for effective guidance in completing objectives, discussing student goals (independent of career interest), and providing bidirectional feedback to inform program-wide quality assessment.