(103) Immigrant Critical Care Program: A Novel Mentoring Initiative

Introduction: As of 2021, 41.2% of critical care physicians were international medical graduates. The Immigrant Critical Care Program (ICCP) is an innovative initiative by SCCM with a unique approach to providing targeted mentorship to immigrant critical care professionals. The program's distinctiveness lies in its potential to foster enduring collaborations between mentees and mentors. We aim to provide an overview of the initial ICCP program.

Methods: Interprofessional members of the ICCP task force determined potential domains and structure for the program. Mentorship goals in 5 key domains were prioritized: psychological and emotional support, self-efficacy, career development, scholarly activities, and leadership and professional engagement. Each mentee was asked to rank a key domain for mentorship. ICCP utilized a strategic interactive platform for high-impact mentorship focusing on pairing domains, with manual review by the task force to ensure the best match between mentee and mentor. The program comprised seven stages: applicant research, recruitment, mentee-mentor matching, training, and support, followed by evaluation.

Results: We received 87 applications, including 25 from mentees and 62 from prospective mentors; there were 18 matched pairs comprising 72% of mentee applicants and 29% of mentor applicants. Of the mentees, 72% had recently completed their critical care fellowship training, three had obtained their Masters in Nursing, and one had completed a doctorate in nursing. All mentors had >10 years of post-training experience, and mentees 67% had less than 10 years of US practice experience. The program lasted four months (April-July 2024) with a recommended monthly contact between mentors and mentees. Since this was a pilot, we did not define deliverables prior; however, a feedback session provided us with invaluable insight. Mentees expressed the vital impact of the program on their professional lives and envisioned maintaining longer-term relationships with their mentors past the program's conclusion.

Conclusions: Creating a mentorship program for immigrant ICU professionals is feasible. Feedback from the cohort was uniformly positive, with some mentees planning to continue connecting with their mentors past the conclusion of formal engagement.