Abstract Background Mentorship, a component inherent in postdoctoral training programs, is vital for professional development and retention of early-career researchers. Yet, it remains difficult to measure the impact of mentorship on one’s career. In this study, the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program (CPFP) alumni spanning from 1987 to 2024 were surveyed about their career outcomes, and the impacts of their mentorship experience also emerged. Methods A survey was sent by email to CPFP alumni through Qualtrics with reminders during the period of May 14 through July 12, 2024. Of the 261 alumni recruited to complete the survey, 189 (72%) responded. Results When reflecting on their multidisciplinary training in cancer prevention and control research, they valued both mentoring and networking aspects of the program (82.7%), and 46.0% and 68.8% of alumni said that CPFP was at least very beneficial to their mentoring skills and professional networking skills, respectively. At the time of this study, alumni were likely to complete all postdoctoral training (99.5%), with 74.7% completing their training within 2 to 5 years. Most alumni also worked across all public health job sectors (87.8%), while being mentors who spent time advising students and fellows (84.9%), led or contributed to multidisciplinary training programs (71.9%), and/or served as mentor to others in their organization (96.6%). Conclusions The survey data demonstrate CPFP alumni valued their mentoring experiences in this postdoctoral program and now serve in mentoring roles themselves. CPFP alumni are also being retained in the field of cancer prevention and control and continue to build the workforce. Clinical trial number Not applicable.
Sherrer et al. (Wed,) studied this question.