Introduction

The pathway to a career in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) is challenging and complex, particularly affecting students from historically marginalized communities. Barriers such as lack of belonging, limited guidance, and poor access to professional networks significantly contribute to the challenges that STEMM field careers can present. To address these challenges, MedWork was developed as a longitudinal virtual mentorship program designed to foster authentic relationships and build professional networks for high school students interested in a STEMM career. One of our aims is to evaluate MedWork’s effectiveness in recruitment, retention, and skills training for mentors and mentees.
 

Methods

MedWork recruited its mentors from professional STEMM societies and recruited high school student mentees from community partners. Mentors included practicing clinicians, graduate students, medical students, and STEMM professionals. Utilizing MentorCity, a comprehensive online platform, mentor-mentee pairs engage in monthly virtual sessions over the academic year. This study aimed to assess our model’s success in recruiting and retaining participants from a wide range of demographic groups. These elements were measured across three dimensions: internal identities, external influences, and organizational factors. Kirkpatrick’s Four-Level Training Evaluation Model guided this program through survey data collected prior to starting a mentorship relationship, immediately after, and long-term.
 

Results

Currently, MedWork is in its pilot year. Participants have been recruited, and data collection is ongoing. We anticipate presenting initial enrollment data gathered from our first round of surveys administered to paired participants. These preliminary results will offer us insight into participants, demographic measures, participant expectations, initial self-efficacy, and foundational data for evaluating the success of our recruitment and training strategies.
 

Conclusion

MedWork’s virtual mentorship model provides a flexible approach that aims to remove barriers and support students’ progression in STEMM fields. Through a systematic evaluation of representation, accessibility, and belonging across internal, external, and organizational dimensions, MedWork aims to promote ASPBP’s goal of developing inclusive practices and expanding access to STEMM education. We anticipate that this structured mentorship experience will strengthen students’ confidence, sense of belonging, and professional development. Insights from this program can guide future ASPBP communities seeking to facilitate secure, scalable, and effective virtual mentorship that will improve representation within the STEMM workforce.