The Health Careers Collaborative Mentoring Program is in its third year. HealthONE, Continental Division, Regis University and Xavier University of Louisiana are partners in offering this program. In this 2023-2024 academic year, we have 48 participants in the program (24 mentees and 24 mentors), with nearly 100 participants since the program began. Mentoring pairs are from a variety of health professions including health administration, nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacy and physical therapy. Mentees (Regis University and Xavier University of Louisiana students in our health professions colleges) and mentors (leaders working within HealthONE, Continental Division) are paired based on discipline.
A Mentoring Kick-Off or welcome session is held every year for both mentees and mentors as well as a Mentoring Training session for mentors. Mentoring pairs meet for a total of six sessions – three in fall semester and three in spring semester. There is a Mentoring Wrap-up or closing session in April for all participants so we can celebrate the mentoring relationship and progress made. All participants of the Health Careers Collaborative Mentoring Program complete assessments throughout the program. Data from 2022-2023 clearly showed that mentoring pairs were satisfied with relationship building, communication, interactions and extensive learning from one another. Mentees found connections to the health system community beneficial and rated the overall experience an 8 or above on a scale of 1-10. Mentor pairs unanimously said they would recommend the program to others at their respective institutions.