Research Mentoring During Times of Crisis

Importance: Mentorship is foundational to the career development of academic physicians. During challenging times, mentees often look to their mentors for additional support and guidance; however, there are few empirical data on best practices for mentoring during times of crisis. Objective: To describe the best practices of award-winning research mentors during challenging times. Design, Setting, and Participants: Our exploratory qualitative study included in-depth interviews with mentors who were internal medicine faculty members and had received a clinical and translational research mentoring award between 2016 and 2024 at the University of Michigan Medical School. A semistructured interview guide was used, and interviews were conducted between July 14 and October 1, 2025, audio recorded, transcribed, and deidentified. Transcripts were analyzed through a descriptive content analysis approach and included both inductive and deductive coding. Main Outcomes and Measures: With the use of audio-recorded interviews, participant views were obtained on effective mentoring strategies in academic medicine focused on mentoring during the current climate of uncertainty related to research funding. Results: In this qualitative study of 15 physician mentors (7 [46.7%] females; 8 [53.3%] males), key themes emerged from the qualitative data, organized into 3 domains: (1) tactical strategies mentors used during challenging times (eg, help mentees identify diverse funding sources, encourage consideration of alternative career options or areas of research focus), (2) psychological strategies used during challenging times (eg, provide emotional support, coach mentees' mindsets), and (3) overall mentoring philosophies and strategies for effective mentoring (eg, provide support and honest feedback, network on behalf of the mentee). Conclusions and Relevance: This qualitative study of notable research mentors identified several strategies and philosophies that may be used to guide mentees during uncertain times. These approaches may transcend a specific crisis and be widely applicable during future challenging times in academic medicine.