The Impact of Mentorship on Academic Productivity: Results from a National Cross-Sectional Survey In Medical Physics
Abstract
Purpose
Mentorship is widely accepted to contribute to academic productivity and career development. We aim to develop a national cross-sectional survey study distributed to therapeutic and diagnostic imaging medical physics residency programs to gain insight into the impact of mentorship and training environment on academic productivity as measured by h-index.
Methods
The survey was created and distributed using the Research Data Capture (REDCap) online platform. 4514 surveys were e-mailed to members of ACGME- or CAMPEP-accredited radiation oncology or medical physics academic programs. H-index was pulled from Scopus in January 2026 using identifiers answered in the survey, including name, institution, and ORCID. The survey assessed categorical measures of mentorship and inclusivity; these were used in a Pearson's Chi-square test (ChiSq) against h-index (JMP v18.2.2).
Results
469 responses were received, yielding a 10.4% response rate. Of the 451 eligible responses, 225 were classified as medical physicists and 210 had identifiable h-indices to be used in final analysis. Recorded h-indices were [0,109]. 51.4% found their mentor accessible; this had a ChiSq p-value=0.0126 when compared to h-index. 58.5% felt comfortable approaching their mentor for questions (p-value=0.0019) and 36.7% identified their mentor as having a leadership role in their professional society (p-value=0.0199). 15.7% have a mentor in their department who identified similarly to them (p-value=0.0180), and 73.3% have a friend or colleague in their department to help navigate career choices (p-value=0.0389).
Conclusion
Medical physicists reported positive mentorship and training experiences; some displayed an association with h-index. Future work will include developing a bibliometric measure of academic productivity that reflects career stage, such as Q-Factor, and continuing to analyze trainee- and faculty-level experiences.