Your Mentors: What you need and how to get it? David T. Felson MD, MPH Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology Boston University

Mentors The most important determinant of your success Many kinds of “mentoring” Peer mentoring Dual mentoring (mentor for content, mentor for methods) Mentoring you ‘absorb’ from the culture

Mentor’s Multiple Roles Advisor Supporter Tutor Sponsor Model An effective mentoring relationship is characterized by mutual trust, understanding, and empathy. Morris Zelditch

Mentor’s Multiple Roles Tangible Examples: Advisor-shares career experience and knowledge Time management-ensures protected time Develops research ideas Suggests scholarly activities Outlines trade-offs Helps with job search

Mentor’s Multiple Roles The Supporter: Provides encouragement Your papers will be rejected. Your grants will be rejected. Mentors provide the broader context that facilitates an objective evaluation of your “successes” and “failures”

Mentor’s Multiple Roles The Tutor Gives specific feedback on performance Manuscripts Grants Abstracts Oral presentations

Mentor’s Multiple Roles: The Sponsor Seeks opportunities Funding sources Networking Job contacts Circle of influence

Mentor’s Goal: to advance your educational and personal growth Your mentor’s primary responsibility is to you Your education Your professional development Your recognition Your career “In the end, they establish an environment in which the student’s accomplishment is limited only by the extent of his or her talent.”

Qualities of a Good Mentor Listens Is Accessible Provides Constructive feedback Encourages confidence and independent thinking Serves as Role model Builds network Encourages multiple mentors Avoids dictating choices or controlling behavior

Barriers to being a good mentor TIME, TIME, TIME Content area Intellectual generosity

Recognize Negative Mentoring Ambivalent, inattentive Inaccessible Insecure Lack of mentoring skills Lacks intellectual generosity-perhaps the most difficult……it is challenging to “let go”. SEEK HELP ELSEWHERE

Being proactive with your mentor Be explicit early on about your expectations and goals Do not be passive when it comes to YOUR career Do your homework…….Be prepared…….

What you want out of Mentor Meetings A prioritization of your goals. Decisions about projects and the questions of focus Deadlines for abstracts/papers/grants Advice on whom to turn to for help

Meetings With Mentors Come prepared with a list of questions Present your research findings Ask mentor what you’re missing At end, let them guide you further

Mentor/Mentee Meetings Scheduled either weekly or every 2 weeks You (mentee) bring the agenda and the questions Ask for feedback about: Direction/goals Prioritization Which projects worth pursuing/which NOT worth pursuing

A Single mentor may not be so important… More than one mentor may provide complementary help. Team mentoring may be more effective than one mentor: alternate meetings. There are many places to get mentoring: Peers Professors from distant institutions Me and Larry Raisz, Larry Riggs, Conrad Johnston. Alvan and academic toilet training

*From Jagsi group; Acad Med 2013 Mentor Networks: Moving Beyond a Dyadic Conception of Mentoring for Junior Faculty Researchers* 100 former K award recipients Purposive sampling (women, URM) Qualitative interviews Aim: to gain understanding of mentoring issues from clinician-researchers *From Jagsi group; Acad Med 2013

Themes that Emerged (1) the numerous roles and behaviors associated with mentoring (2) improbability that a single person can fulfill the diverse mentoring needs of another individual (3) the importance and composition of mentor networks.

Exerpts from Interviews [T]here's no way that a mentor can be all things to all people and some mentors are good for just one thing. [S]ome mentors, very few of them, have the whole package: that nice person, professional relationship, [who] does funding and manuscripts and ... can help you negotiate your system. There are very few of those. (Female, K awardee)

Excerpts from Interviews I have some mentors who are very strong in science who really understand the subject matter of the area that I'm working in ... I have mentors who I call politicians. They sort of know how to network ... I no longer rely on a single person for a mentor. (Female, K awardee)

Summaries of interviews Some participants used the term “portfolio” to describe the practice of collecting different mentors. Others used terms such as “community,” “multiple perspectives,” or “team” to further indicate that rather than a single individual, a group of mentors, can benefit the protégé.

Other Mentors Suggested by Interviewees Peers Women Mentors for Women mentees Those at other institutions

The Next Stage: Mentors help with Moving toward INDEPENDENCE

National Academy Press, 1997 National Academy of Sciences National Academy of Engineering Institute of Medicine National Academy Press, 1997

Carol B. Muller, Ph.D., Founder, MentorNet Ex: Chemical engineer at Dow Chemical Company mentor for engineering student at Carnegie Mellon University Carol B. Muller, Ph.D., Founder, MentorNet