Explicating the role of turning points and relationship satisfaction throughout mentoring relationships during medical residency: A communication perspective

Medical residents often engage in mentoring relationships during their residency to further their learning and professional development. Although mentoring has been cited as a way to mitigate some of the detrimental outcomes of medical residency (e.g., high stress, burnout), existing conceptualizations of mentoring leave knowledge gaps as to how residents experience relational shifts (i.e., turning points) with their mentors and how these turning points influence residents’ relationship satisfaction and well-being. To understand the nuance in mentoring relationship development, I conducted 42 semi-structured turning point retrospective interviews with Internal Medicine and Obstetrics/Gynecology residents in 26 residencies across the United States. First, turning point and trajectory analysis was conducted using residents' retrospective graphs collected during interviews to examine patterns within and across their mentoring relationships. The reported turning points revealed that residents were particularly attuned to their mentor’s (a) support in career development and (b) communication about relational norms (e.g., consistency of communication and quality of support). Additionally, residents’ graphs of their mentoring relationship trajectories revealed that residents primarily experienced a gradual increase in relationship satisfaction with their mentors, although some experienced immediate and maintained high satisfaction, significant disruptions, or turbulence. These turning point and trajectory findings suggest that mentoring relationships are uniquely shaped by the communication patterns between mentee and mentor. Second, answering Dorrance-Hall and colleagues’ (2023) call for future turning point research to capture participants’ accounts of turning points, I conducted accounts coding and thematic analysis on the interview transcripts portion of the data. Findings suggest that medical resident mentoring relationships are a complex process that requires situated communication strategies to be both satisfying and supportive. At a broad level, the communication strategies that bolstered residents’ relationship satisfaction included (a) establishing and maintaining communication norms, (b) providing high-quality emotional and informational support targeting residents’ learning and identity, and (c) creating opportunities for residents’ passive (i.e., observational) and active learning that align with their career goals. These patterns closely aligned with known mentoring behaviors, and this study extends knowledge of these behaviors by exploring how communication qualities influence residents’ relationship satisfaction and well-being. Finally, this study offers practical interventions, including communication strategies and training criteria designed to optimize mentoring benefits for residency programs, resident mentors, and resident mentees. Together, this study contributes to both theoretical and practical advancements at the intersection of communication, mentoring, and relational turning points.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Communication

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Horan, Lindsay F. Kelpinski

Contributors dc:contributor

• Guntzviller, Lisa M
• Thompson, Charee M
• Barley, William C
• Lammers, John C

• Mentoring
• Turning Points
• Relational Trajectory
• Relationship Development
• Interpersonal Communication
• Medical Residency
• Internal Medicine
• OB/GYN

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Lindsay Kelpinski Horan

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129418

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F129418