The mentored experience to enhance opportunities in research (METEOR) program

Figures & data

Table 1. Representative quotes from qualitative interviews aligned with themes

Theme/ Construct
Self-Efficacy	I don’t think that if I hadn’t had the experience with our METEOR mentors that I would have been able to kind of navigate through how to even start a project, just knowing the basics of working in a lab, being able to orient yourself, ask for help when you need it. I think that that aspect of the METEOR program was very helpful. (Cohort 1) The summer between my first and second year I actually spent a lot more time actually doing data collection for the digital research project in pediatric oncology, and understanding how to use online resources like REDCap and what it really meant to dive into, what it takes to not just be part of the research study, but how data-collection works and all of that as well. (Cohort 3) I did publish while I was in [previous] research, but [METEOR] definitely helped me develop my researching skills. I did publish in medical school and I’m definitely seeing that the skills that I learned in the program, in terms of IRB meetings that I sat in on and watching that process of how to apply for IRBs, how to edit papers, and how to conduct a research study, really helped me in terms of the future research that I did [in residency]. (Cohort 3) I still learned about writing a manuscript from start to finish and submitting abstracts and working with a multi-disciplinary team, so working with pharmacists and statisticians and specialists in other fields, to get a project from start to finish. So I think I definitely took away many skills from these projects working with my mentor that was assigned to me through the METEOR program. (Cohort 4) I think I learned a lot through the program. This is my first time that I was able to write a manuscript from start to finish as the first author that ended up being accepted and published, so I learned all about that process. I had done poster presentations in the past but never at national conferences, so I think I also learning that skill of being able to explain your research to people that are specialized in that area, versus just generalized people, that actually are going to be asking thoughtful and relevant questions because this is their field and this is what they’re interested in, and so I think I definitely gained a lot of valuable experience in that sense. (Cohort 1) He taught me so much in terms of getting a manuscript published, I think a lot to learn there in terms of the editing and the sending back to the journal and then getting revisions back and doing that. There was a lot of learning to be had there in terms of publishing an actual paper. (Cohort 2)
Outcome Expectations	I think METEOR helped in terms of giving me the exposures to all the different types of research and knowing that there’s more than just bench research out there, and clinical translational research that would affect the patient, and that would be something that I’d be most interested in pursuing. (Cohort 2) So I think that the METEOR program significantly impacted my decision now to continue with research, just because I was able to see firsthand how a physician that does … that is engaged. is strongly tied to research, is able to go about their day, their day-to-day, conducting their research but then also practicing medicine. (Cohort 1)
Broader Exposure to the Research Process	The ins and outs of basically trying to establish how I’m going to not only conduct my research but how I will go about getting funding if I needed it, and I think that was helpful. (Cohort 1) In terms of how you actually recruit patients for a study, and there was another group in the hospital that was competing for kind of a similar cohort of patients, and so how that goes, and then on top of that the collaboration; I had a lot of partners and just people in the lab and how to work with the lab and the protocols and actually doing the stuff hands-on. (Cohort 2) I hadn’t done that before, like trying to recruit other people to help me on my study; I hadn’t done that before. That was all new. It was less of basic research skills and more so just the business of getting research done, and the perseverance to try to push to get things done was a new experience for me. (Cohort 1) Working with this particular mentor I was able to see how research directly impacted medicine, so what she was working with technology, I could see it cross over into her realm of her clinical work … It was nice to see the correlation between the bench work and then it being applied directly to the clinical aspect of the research. (Cohort 1)
Expanded Networks	Some research meetings within the department that had nothing to do with [my mentor]. They were just people that she introduced me to, and they had some research, and they invited me to come to their meeting. (Cohort 2) [My mentor] introduced me to people that helped me develop my researching skill even more so. (Cohort 3) [My mentor’s] been so helpful in terms of getting through med school and getting me ready for residency, but then also is able to help connect me to many people in the field that I’m now in. (Cohort 4) I think [my mentor] definitely helped me out in that he was able to put me in contact with the important people in those areas and just help me along and get more exposure than I would have maybe through just our regular rotations. (Cohort 4)
Impact on Residency Applications	I think it definitely helped me in terms of applying for residency and being able to speak on my research experience and knowing what I did like and what I didn’t like about research and how I’d like my research career to look. I think I just had more experience than I would have had otherwise to be able to speak on that. (Cohort 4) When I went on some interviews for places that [my mentor] knew the leadership well, I showed up for my interview and they already knew my name, and I think all of those things are very, very helpful and probably would not have happened otherwise. (Cohort 2)
Impact on Interest in Research	I think professionally it was also incredibly helpful in various ways because it got me involved in research early and allowed me to get connected to various people and become involved in various projects. (Cohort 4) We got to work on many different cool projects together that I got publications and presentations from so overall I loved it, and I thought it worked out very well for me at least. (Cohort 4) I think that if I hadn’t done the METEOR program I don’t think I’d be as interested … I know I have an interest in research, but I wouldn’t know how to navigate. I would know what it would look like one, and then I don’t think I would have had the resources to actually go through and do it. (Cohort 1)
General Support beyond Research	As far as academics go, I remember having a hard time getting through [USMLE] Step 1, I think just like any other medical student, but what was very helpful was my mentor sat down and gave me his schedule for Step 1 as well as for Step 2, and he said ‘Look these are the things that worked for me, this didn’t work for me, they may work for you, they may not work for you, but this is how I tackled that situation.’ And he did the same thing with classes. So he said ‘Like this is how I took notes, this is how I process information, this book was helpful, this book wasn’t helpful.’ I think that guidance really helped me. (Cohort 1) I definitely think he was incredibly committed to my development not just as a researcher but as a physician (Cohort 3) I think it definitely got me a lot more comfortable in terms of the faculty there and their investment in our professional development, and it significantly made me comfortable starting medical school. (Cohort 3) Part of resiliency is having a couple people that I felt like I could count on, people to talk to you and even just people that believed in me. So like sometimes you’re going through a lot of things, it’s easy to kind of lose confidence in who you are or your ability to get through it, but when you have people who are seasoned and attendings and such that see you and know you and still believe in you anyway, it’s very helpful. (Cohort 2)