Mentor FAQ
Fri, 10/02/2009 - 11:49 — rlazzar@u.washi...
What is the Underserved Pathway?
The Underserved Pathway is a curricular and experiential program which supports medical students interested in caring for underserved populations, both urban and rural. Students in the pathway complete an online curriculum on topics in underserved medicine, choose clinical rotations in underserved settings, complete four community service hours a quarter and work with a mentor for the duration of their time in the Underserved Pathway. If you’d like to learn more about the pathway requirements, click here.
What is the purpose of mentoring in the Underserved Pathway?
Students have limited contact with clinicians who work with vulnerable populations. By providing students with a mentor we can support and nurture the student’s interest in working with these special populations. Second, a mentor can be a bridge to experiences that increase the student’s understanding about careers with the underserved.
What skills do I need as a mentor?
Mentors are not required to have specific knowledge or skill sets. An openness to sharing your thoughts and experiences with a student is all that is required. For a list of helpful articles and websites on mentoring, click here.
What are the qualities of a good mentor?
The key is in the relationship. Both a mentor and student must choose to work on getting to know each other. The mentor and student must also explore what the student needs from the relationship. The student must understand the strengths and the boundaries presented by the mentor. The relationship will do best if both agree on how to communicate and how often to communicate. It is important that both work to ensure that contact happens and they have goals or questions to discuss.
Broadly defined, mentoring is a sustained goal driven relationship between two persons where one is more mature, for the purpose of providing support and advice concerning personal, academic, career or social concerns. (McPartland & Nettles, 1991).
Your role will most likely be in two of the three areas mentioned above. You will explore students’ interests and initial career interests. You will help them to understand more about those interests and perhaps direct them to others who share specific interests.
Over the course of the relationship, you will likely learn about their family, friends, and outside interests. You can choose to be available as a resource when they have concerns or want support in life events. You will model how personal development links to career development and academic achievement.
What can I expect from my student?
Your student may bring a wide variety of expectations and hopes to the relationship. Your student may be looking for a mentor who can introduce them to working with underserved patients or he or she may be looking for a mentor who confirms their commitment to underserved patient care. As part of your first meeting with your student, we recommend that you ask your student what their goals are for their relationship with you.
Your student must connect with you on a quarterly basis. That might be by phone, email, or in person. Some students may want to spend time working with you in clinic. We encourage you to talk with your student about their expectations for these quarterly meetings and what they would like to get out of these meetings.
Lastly, as students gain clinical experience, their concerns will change. Understanding the developmental stage your student is in during their medical school career can help you anticipate these questions. Our quarterly emails will include an overview of the major events in your student’s life.
We expect you to meet with your student at least once a quarter. We will provide suggestions for topics to cover in those meetings. We hope that as the relationship grows, you will discover common interests to discuss. We also hope that the experiences your share with your student will be ones that support the student’s decision to pursue a career with the underserved. We hope that you will get to know the student well enough to also facilitate their growth through other connections in your community.
You and your student can determine the amount of time that you’d like to spend in your mentoring contacts. At minimum we ask you to connect with your student once a quarter (or every 12 weeks). You can connect with your student in person, on the phone or by email. Beyond that, together you can decide on additional activities and contacts. For additional ideas for meetings, click here.
What support would I receive as a mentor?
Mentors are supported by the faculty and staff of the Underserved Pathway in the Department of Family Medicine. You may contact the faculty and staff with any questions that you may have about your student, the mentoring relationship and the underserved pathway. You will find answers to many of your questions through our Mentor Website, this FAQ page, and Mentor Resources. Additionally, through our quarterly emails we will remind you of important academic events in your student’s life and point you to resources to help your student as they approach these milestones.
How does mentoring benefit me?
Underserved pathway mentors reap a number of intangible and tangible benefits from their experience. The most important benefit is the relationship that you will form with your medical student. Not only will you have the opportunity to influence a medical student’s career trajectory, but you will also experience a sense of renewed enjoyment and commitment to your own career.
Mentors who spend 50 hours or more a year with their students are eligible to apply for clinical faculty status through the Department of Family Medicine. Clinical faculty members receive discounts on purchases at the bookstore, sporting activity tickets and cultural event tickets. For more information, please refer to the UW Department of Family Medicine’s Clinical Faculty Homepage.
How do I get started mentoring my student?
Much has been written about mentoring. What is known is that most successful mentoring relationships are centered initially around a project or a goal. As part of your first meeting with your student, we encourage you to share your goals for the relationship and find out from the student their goals. Additional thoughts on getting your mentoring relationship started can be found on our “Tips for Getting Started” page.
Your student will be asked to contact you every quarter. Should you not hear from your student, it is fine for you to initiate contact.
In your initial meeting, please discuss best ways to stay in touch with your student. Some students prefer phone. Others prefer email. You will also have preferences; it helps to clarify what will work for both of you to keep in touch. We do hope that there will be face-to-face meetings as well, when they can be arranged.
What kinds of activities should I be doing with my mentee?
We hope that students will visit your clinical site at least once. Some may want to shadow you and that is fine. Some may ask to do a clinical rotation with you and that may also be arranged. It is fine to have them to your home and to introduce them to your family. Lastly, should there be relevant events in your community, inviting and including your students is an excellent way to model how physicians get involved and engaged. If you have any activities that were particularly successful, we encourage you to share them with us so we can promote them to all mentors.
What resources are available to help guide mentors in developing and maintaining a mentoring relationship?
In addition to this FAQ page, our website contains a wealth of information. If you need ideas on getting your mentoring relationship started, see our "Tips for Getting Started” page. Our resources page contains helpful articles and websites on mentoring which will be updated periodically. Our quarterly emails will contain mentoring best practices shared by your colleagues. If you come across a helpful resource that you'd like to share and add to our resources, please contact Rachel Lazzar, program coordinator at rlazzar@u.washington.edu. In addition, our faculty and staff are always available for questions.
How can I tell if my student is having difficulty?
Medical school can be a difficult and stressful time for your student. While some students may openly share their difficulties, others may hide them for fear that they will lose your esteem for them. Some signs that your student may be having difficulty include:
Changes in appearance: unkempt, weight loss or gain, alcohol on breath
Changes in mood: irritable, depressed, anxious
Changes in performance: inattentive, late to meetings, forgets about meetings, fails to meet deadlines for assignments or other tasks
This of course is not an exhaustive list. If you have concerns about your student but are not sure if the student is in difficulty, we recommend that you contact a pathway faculty or staff member to discuss your concerns confidentially.
To learn more about resources for students in difficulty, click here.
What if I find that my student is experiencing personal or academic difficulty?
As a mentor, your student may seek out your guidance and support during this difficult time. Talking with your student in an unbiased, nonjudgmental manner can help you to convey your concern and support for the student. However, please do not feel that you need to personally advocate for your student unless you feel comfortable doing so. A number of resources exist at all of the University of Washington Medical School’s five campuses to help students through this difficult time. Our resources page lists these resources which you may choose to contact or encourage your student to do so.
What if our mentoring relationship experiences difficulty?
We are asking mentors to work with their match for the duration of the student’s matriculation in medical school. We realize, however, that some matches will not work as well as others and that personal circumstances may necessitate a change of mentor or ending the mentoring relationship.
The faculty and staff from the Department of Family Medicine will always be available to discuss your concerns and ways to handle them. We will encourage open dialogue and work with both you and the student to find appropriate solutions. If it is an academic, professionalism, or personal concern regarding the student, we may utilize other resources in the School of Medicine as well.
What should I do if I need to stop mentoring?
If circumstances arise where you must stop a relationship, please call the Department of Family Medicine at 206-543-9425 to discuss this before telling your student. We will work with you to arrange a mentor transition for the student.
Do you have other questions? Send us an email at rlazzar@u.washington.edu or call us at 206-543-9425.