Mentoring

Chapter 17


Mentoring




Introduction


The traditional mentoring relationship is described as one that develops between a senior professional, the ‘mentor’, and a younger colleague, the ‘mentee’ or ‘protégé’. In The Odyssey, Ulysses’ trusted friend, Mentor, was given the responsibility of educating Ulysses’ son, Telemachus, when he set out for the Trojan War. From this epic arose the use of the word ‘mentor’ as a wise and faithful counsellor. In the modern world, a mentor is a counsellor and teacher who motivates and assists a junior colleague in attaining success.


An effective mentoring relationship is often viewed as an essential step for achieving success in politics, business and academia. Medical faculty who had mentors reported that mentoring positively influenced personal development, career guidance and overall productivity. Effective mentoring can increase career satisfaction and reduce faculty burnout as well as increase professional networking and collegiality. Yet a recent systematic review reported that fewer than 50% of medical students and 20% of faculty members reported having a mentor. Women seem to have more difficulty finding mentors than men.


At institutions where formal mentoring programmes exist, mentors rarely receive training on the mentoring process and are often ill-equipped to face challenges when taking on major mentoring responsibilities. Mentor–mentee relationships are also challenged by increased clinical, research and administrative demands on faculty. Moreover, there is a perception that mentorship is undervalued by academic institutions and does not contribute to career advancement.


It is therefore essential for medical institutions to implement formal mentoring programmes, provide staff development and support for mentors and overtly recognize and find ways to reward faculty who take on major mentoring responsibilities.



Definitions


Mentoring implies a two-way relationship between the mentor and the mentee. The mentor has a genuine interest in the professional growth of a mentee, and often the relationship is judged by the mentee’s success. The mentor supplies information, gives advice and facilitates professional networking, but also offers critical support for the mentee during trying periods. A mentor is often confused with an advisor, role model or collaborator.


Advising involves supplying information in a neutral fashion. Although the advice or information is given in a friendly manner, a bond need not develop between the advisor and the advisee. An advising relationship can be terminated after one meeting or several meetings and usually focuses on a specific career goal, e.g. further specialization, research collaboration, clinical placement or learning plan.


A role model is one whose professional behaviours and academic values are emulated by junior faculty or trainees. There does not have to be an actual personal relationship between the one who incorporates these characteristics and the role model. A mentor can be a role model, but a role model need not be a mentor. A role model could be a historical figure such as Sir William Osler.


Collaboration is more often a partnership between peers with the mutual goal of increasing productivity, increasing resources or developing specific skills. Such relationships can be long-term, but are more usually short lived and end when the goals have been achieved.



image Mentoring does not need to be a lifelong or career-long relationship. It can be short and time-defined and still effective.






Benefits of mentoring


The benefits of a mentoring relationship are manifold. A successful partnership can lead to the professional development of both individuals. Mentors experience the satisfaction of nurturing and aiding the professional growth of a junior trainee or colleague. Institutions may recognize and reward successful mentors. More recently, the Association of American Medical Colleges consensus group on Educational Scholarship has urged institutions to add mentoring to their list of educational activities that can promote educational scholarship and academic advancement. Mentors often feel professionally stimulated and perhaps rejuvenated with a feeling that they are giving back to their professions. Their mentees, in turn, may continue their legacy by mentoring their own students and junior colleagues.


Mentees benefit by receiving support during their professional development and when facing professional problems. They have time to reflect on their goals and strategies and ideally should be supported while they solve their problems. They are able to orient themselves more quickly to the organizational structure, goals and policies and develop confidence in navigating the maze and politics of a medical organization. They are also able to turn to a senior person in a crisis and are challenged to reach for loftier goals in their career.



Challenges in mentoring


Although the benefits and advantages of mentoring are most often espoused in the literature, mentors should be aware that there are risks and problems associated with mentoring relationships. Mentors and mentees may not enter the relationship with common goals and expectations and levels of commitment. Mentees may make unreasonable demands of their mentors and even expect them to solve all their emotional and academic problems. Assigned mentors may be disinterested and unhelpful to their mentees, and such relationships may be threatened by hierarchy, generational tensions or personality clashes. Mentors may try to propagate their own career interests in their mentees and fail to recognize that their mentees’ professional aspirations and identity could be very different from their own. Mentors who are also their mentees’ superiors and evaluators could threaten their mentees’ growth by involving them in their own research or educational activities, and there could be conflicts in authorship of shared publications and presentations. Finally, both parties should be careful to avoid emotional overdependence or inappropriate personal feelings, all of which could damage irreparably the careers of both.



Approach to mentoring



Balancing support, challenge and vision


In 1986, Daloz described a mentor–protégé model which balances three elements: support, challenge and vision. Support refers to activities that boost self-esteem of the protégé such as showing respect, providing opportunities and resources and giving positive feedback. Challenge forces mentees to work actively towards their career goals and reflect on their skills and values; actions include listing tasks to achieve goals, setting timelines and providing constructive or negative feedback. Finally, mentors help mentees develop their professional vision by stimulating discussions about their long-term goals. Without challenge, there can be no professional growth in the careers of mentees. However, mentees need support if they are to venture out of their comfort zone and challenge themselves. Support will enable mentees to have a sense of belonging within their organization and continue to set lofty professional goals even if initial attempts are unsuccessful. Finally, professionals should be able to periodically set long-term career goals including how they would handle career transitions. Underlying all these values should be the realization that mentees have the freedom to completely change career paths during the course of their academic life and need support during these changes. This model has been validated by educators in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Wisconsin.



Roles of a mentor


Several roles have been previously described for a physician researcher mentor, but these roles apply equally to non-researchers, educators, administrators and leaders who take on mentoring responsibilities in medical education.



image Seven possible roles of a mentor:



As is evident from the roles listed above, a mentor has several functions in a mentoring relationship. We describe some important ones below:



• Professional socialization: mentors can help mentees who are new to an institution learn about institutional vision and goals, help them find their way around a large organization and refer them to peers or senior colleagues for further guidance or collaboration. This socialization also applies to the profession more generally, understanding its traditions, values, leaders and challenges.


• Career development: mentors can help mentees establish professional goals early in their career and guide them towards the resources needed to achieve these goals. These goals can relate to research, administrative or educational aspects of a medical educator’s career but the goals could also relate to personal growth. Guidance is especially crucial during career transitions: from trainee to faculty, as well as faculty career transitions.


• Networking: mentors can help mentees network within and outside their own institution for further mentoring, collaboration in research or educational activities and skill development.


• Feedback: mentors can review periodically whether their mentees are proceeding in the right direction to accomplish their academic goals and redirect them when needed. In addition, they can review mentee evaluations by juniors, peers or seniors and provide feedback on their strengths and weaknesses.


• Coaching: mentors can provide coaching when their mentees have to learn new skills. If they themselves do not possess these skills, mentors must be proactive in referring mentees to others who could help their mentees gain these skills. Mentors should be able to see the potential in their mentees and actively groom them for future leadership positions.


• Support: mentees need support from mentors when they are exploring career paths, stretching their talents to make innovative contributions or facing failures or conflicts with other colleagues. They may also seek their mentors’ help when faced with personal challenges, and under these circumstances mentors need to be very aware of professional boundaries.

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Dec 9, 2016 | Posted by in GENERAL & FAMILY MEDICINE | Comments Off on Mentoring

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