Creating Sustainable Near-Peer Mentorship: A Review of the Anastomosis Program

Background: Anastomosis is a longitudinal, family-style near peer mentorship program started within the department of surgery at the University of Michigan in 2020. Each group consists of 1-2 medical students, a PGY-1 surgery resident, an academic development time resident, and a faculty member. Groups meet quarterly for mentorship as well as to discuss important sociocultural issues such as microaggressions, work-life balance, and burnout. Objectives: To assess the efficacy of Anastomosis - a novel near-peer surgical mentorship program – three years into the program. Methods: Survey of multiple choice, Likert-style, and free response questions regarding participants’ experiences in Anastomosis. Participants: Current medical student, resident, and faculty members of Anastomosis Results: Eighteen of the current 40 Anastomosis participants (45%) filled out our survey. In providing a safe space for mentorship, 89% of respondents found Anastomosis to be helpful (56% “very helpful”, 22% “helpful”, 11% “somewhat helpful”), while 11% found it to be “not helpful at all”. In discussing sociocultural topics, 82% of respondents felt comfortable (65% “very comfortable”, 18% “somewhat comfortable”), while 12% felt neither comfortable nor uncomfortable, and only 1 person felt “somewhat uncomfortable. All of the residents who responded to our survey reported they felt “very comfortable” discussing sociocultural topics. In the subgroup analysis, people who found Anastomosis to be “very helpful” in providing a safe space for mentorship were more likely to spend time with their group members outside of Anastomosis, keep in contact via text, and feel comfortable discussing sociocultural issues than those who found it “not helpful at all.” Conclusion: Anastomosis has been successful in achieving its goals of providing trainees with a safe space for mentorship and to discuss important sociocultural topics that are often neglected in surgical training. Most members feel comfortable discussing these sensitive topics, possibly because of the strong ties that formed within their groups through mentorship and freeform discussion. Furthermore, some groups spontaneously collaborated on research, resulting in 50+ publications. The most pressing area for improvement was identified to be scheduling logistics, but overall Anastomosis is effective and can serve as a model for near-peer mentorship programs in surgery residency programs.