Alternatives to Traditional Mentoring
A mentoring relationship can be critical for your success
in academic medicine. This does not mean, however, that you
will only have one mentor in your career — or even just
one at a time. Rarely does one senior person meet all the
needs a young professional might have. This is especially
true in academic medicine and basic science considering the
increasing clinical demands and ever-changing research environment.
Twenty-five or 30 years ago, a mentor with sound research
skills may have sufficed for a junior faculty member since
research has traditionally been an area for which young clinical
professionals received the least training. Today, this would
not be the case. In this managed care, health care reform
environment, a junior faculty member would need a mentor with
research, clinical, teaching and business skills — a
tall order for one person.
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"The homogeneity of
senior faculty contrasts sharply with the heterogeneity of students and young faculty, many of whom present orientations unfamiliar to their potential mentors." 43, 46
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Even senior faculty have strengths and weaknesses. As a mentee, you may find
one individual known for research skills, another individual
honored for teaching abilities and yet a third senior professional
whose clinical and business acumen you admire. Ask all three
to mentor you in their respective areas. This would also provide
an excellent opportunity for the clinical faculty and the
basic science faculty to strengthen collaborative relationships
as in the case of translational research. A basic scientist
may require a patient population for final research on a project.
Simultaneous multiple mentors can be especially helpful to
the basic scientist in terms of specialized technology: the
geneticist may find him or herself needing complex biochemistry
knowledge, or skill with a specialized instrument. Layer
your mentors.
Another option for a young professional would be "rolling" mentors. This often happens as a person
progresses through his or her career, especially if he or she moves on to other institutions or more specialized research or clinical interests. You may start out in your career with one mentor and "roll" over to several
others as your career becomes more defined. Ideally, each of your mentors will
connect you with others who may serve in the same capacity.
Continuing education is an excellent way to enhance your career development. For example, course work in management, business, statistics, epidemiology or mini-sabbaticals learning new research techniques can add to your current knowledge base, direct future career goals and introduce you to people outside of your institution with whom you can network. You might even meet someone whom you'd ask to mentor you, even though he or she is not a part of your institution.
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