The Diversity Mentorship Program (DMP) is a program created by the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine with the goal of connecting 1st and 2nd year medical students from equity seeking groups to faculty physician mentors who are able to support and assist them in their educational and professional growth and development. The program is administered by the faculty’s Office of Inclusion and Diversity.

For the purposes of the DMP, equity seeking groups are identified as those who have been historically marginalized and/or underrepresented in Medicine in Canada. The Faculty of Medicine’s Diversity Statement also highlights specific groups in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) who are underrepresented in Medicine based on their level of representation in the general GTA population. Equity seeking groups who will be considered for this program include students who identify as Indigenous, racialized, LGBTQ2S, first in family to attend university, differently abled, economically disadvantaged, and/or from a minoritized faith group, amongst other groups and communities.

The main purpose of this program is to ensure that all students entering the Faculty of Medicine are able to explore their full potential as learners and as potential members of the medical profession. The Faculty of Medicine is responsible for organizing the mentorship match between student/mentee and faculty member/mentor. Student mentees who are matched with a mentor are then encouraged to take leadership in the relationship to ensure that they are able to get the most value from their experience.

As the coordinator of the DMP, the Diversity Office at the Faculty of Medicine will provide both mentors and mentees with:

• online tools and resources to assist, encourage and support the mentoring relationship
• the opportunity to attend two networking social events
• opportunities to provide feedback about the program (mid-way and at the end of the match)
• official recognition for participation in the program

Matchmaking Process

This year, mentees will be asked to indicate their preferred mentor choices in their application forms, to facilitate forming the best-suited mentorship matches. Only the following mentor information will be provided to DMP mentee applicants (embedded in the mentee application form) as a PDF summary document of mentor bios:

• First and last name
• Institutional position titles
• Department
• The link to online biography/ short personal biography provided
• Information regarding any experience with barriers/challenges in relation to mentor medical education/career, that could help mentees navigate similar issues
• The topics mentors feel equipped/open to providing mentorship on
• Mentor interests/hobbies/involvements outside of medicine

The program coordinator will then use this information to form the mentorship matches. In late-August, mentees and mentors will be contacted via email to confirm matches and more information will be provided.
 

For Medical Student Mentees

If you are a 1st or 2nd year UofT medical student from an equity seeking group, please apply to be a mentee in the 2019/2020 DMP program by filling out this online form. 

By late-August, you will receive a response regarding your eligibility for the program along with information about your mentor and next steps for the program.  Although we will do our best to match you with a mentor that meets your specifications and preferences, we cannot guarantee matching you with a physician with the same social identity as yours.  However, we do our utmost to ensure that the match is most suitable for both mentor and mentee.

The following are the roles and responsibilities of DMP mentees:

• To sign an agreement to be a mentee for a period of 1 academic year (September 2019-May 2020) unless due to extraordinary circumstances the student is unable to continue the relationship; agreement will specify roles and responsibilities of the student
• To invest, at the very least, 1-2 hours of in-person meeting time with mentor each term of the academic year (as much face-time as possible is encouraged)
• To communicate regularly with mentor via email and/or telephone, or other agreed-upon methods of communication on an as needed basis
• To clearly identify to mentor at beginning of match as to priority areas of mentorship including but not limited to:
  • Navigating social identity in the medical/health care setting
  • Professional, educational, and career development
  • How to create high quality connections (HQCs)
  • Careers pathways in medicine (i.e. clinician scientist, academic medicine, hospital administration, leadership opportunities)
  • Personal growth
  • Access to formal and informal networks within medicine
  • Balancing a career in medicine with other life responsibilities
  • Leadership skills
• To respond to requests for progress and updates from the Diversity Office in each term
• To provide feedback for the purposes of evaluating the DMP program at the end of the match

For Faculty Physician Mentors

Any faculty physicians who are interested in equity, diversity, inclusion and being an ally to marginalized and underrepresented learners in medicine are eligible to apply. Mentor applications for the 2019-2020 program are now closed. To indicate your intest in mentoring in the 2020-2021 DMP, you can fill out this application of interest form to be contacted when the 2020-2021 applications open in July 2020.

The following are the roles and responsibilities of DMP mentors:

• To sign an agreement to mentor a medical student for a period of 1 academic year (September 2019-May 2020) which clearly states role, responsibilities, objectives and expectations
• To invest, at the very least, 1-2 hours of in-person meeting time with mentee each term of the academic year (as much face-time as possible is encouraged)
• To communicate regularly with mentee via email and/or telephone, or other agreed-upon method of communication on an as needed basis
• To provide mentee with guidance in identified areas, depending on the needs of the mentee
• To respond to requests for progress and updates from the Office of Inclusion and Diversity in each term
• To provide feedback for the purposes of evaluating the DMP program at the half-way point of the program and at the end of the match

Contact

Should you have any further questions about the Diversity Mentorship Program, please contact Shannon Giannitsopoulou, Program Coordinator, Office of Inclusion and Diversity, at 416-978-7398 or shannon.giannitsopoulou@utoronto.ca