PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Research in Progress Conference for Hospitalists Provides Valuable Peer Mentoring Marwan S. Abougergi, MD Scott M. Wright, MD Regina Landis, BA Eric E. Howell, MD Division of Hospital Medicine, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Wright is a Miller-Coulson Family Scholar and is supported by the Miller-Coulson family through the Johns Hopkins Center for Innovative Medicine. Disclosure: Nothing to report. BACKGROUND: Many academic hospitalist units lack senior mentors. In such groups, peer mentoring may be valuable. To formalize collaboration, we instituted a research-in-progress conference at our institution, and this article describes the format and evaluation data. METHODS: The research-in-progress sessions were held every 3 to 4 weeks and followed a specific format. Evaluation forms were completed after each of the 15 sessions during the 2009 academic year. Attendees and presenters completed surveys at the end of the sessions. The projects presented were tracked for successful academic outcomes, namely, publication in a peer-reviewed journal or presentation at a national meeting. RESULTS: A mean of 9.6 persons were present at each session and completed the evaluations. All 15 presenters rated the climate of the sessions as extremely supportive, and 86% believed they were helpful in advancing their project. A total of 143 evaluations were completed by the attendees, 86% and 96% of whom found the sessions to be intellectually stimulating and to have satisfactorily kept them abreast of their colleagues’scholarly pursuits, respectively. To date, 10 of the 15 projects have translated into successful academic outcomes: 6 peer-reviewed publications and 4 other presentations presented at national meetings. CONCLUSIONS: The research-in-progress conference has been well received and has resulted in academic productivity within our hospitalist division. It is likely that such a conference will be most valuable for groups with limited access to senior mentors. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2011;6:43–46 V C 2011 Society of Hospital Medicine KEYWORDS: research skills, teamwork. Additional Supporting Information may be found in the online version of this article. The research-in-progress (RIP) conference is commonplace in academia, but there are no studies that objectively char- acterize its value. Bringing faculty together away from reve- nue-generating activities carries a significant cost. As such, measuring the success of such gatherings is necessary. Mentors are an invaluable influence on the careers of junior faculty members, helping them to produce high-qual- ity research. 1–3 Unfortunately, some divisions lack mentor- ship to support the academic needs of less experienced fac- ulty. 1 Peer mentorship may be a solution. RIP sessions represent an opportunity to intentionally formalize peer mentoring. Further, these sessions can facilitate collabora- tions as individuals become aware of colleagues’ interests. The goal of this study was to assess the value of the research-in-progress conference initiated within the hospi- talist division at our institution. Methods Study Design This cohort study was conducted to evaluate the value of the RIP conference among hospitalists in our division and the academic outcomes of the projects. Setting and Participants The study took place at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center (JHBMC), a 335-bed university-affiliated medical center in Balti- more, Maryland. The hospitalist division consists of faculty physi- cians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants (20.06 FTE physicians and 7.41 FTE midlevel providers). Twelve (54%) of our faculty members are female, and the mean age of providers is 35.7 years. The providers have been practicing hospitalist medi- cine for 3.0 years on average; 2 (9%) are clinical associates, 16 (73%) are instructors, and 3 (14%) are assistant professors. All faculty members presenting at the RIP session were members of the division. A senior faculty member (a profes- sor in the Division of General Internal Medicine) helps to coordinate the conference. The group’s research assistant was present at the sessions and was charged with data col- lection and collation. The Johns Hopkins University institutional review board approved the study. The Research in Progress Conference During the 2009 academic year, our division held 15 RIP sessions. At each session, 1 faculty member presented a 2011 Society of Hospital Medicine DOI 10.1002/jhm.865 View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. Journal of Hospital Medicine Vol 6 No 1 January 2011 43