JHU Department of Medicine Mentoring ProgramGUIDELINES FOR MENTEESThe Department of Medicine Mentoring Program has been established to assist Junior Faculty with their career development. You will be paired with a Senior Faculty member who is prepared to assist you with concerns you may have about career advancement, grantwriting, publishing, enhancing your professional visibility, and managing your competing roles in research, teaching, and clinical practice. To support you in maximizing the value of your experience in the Mentoring Program, the following guidelines are provided by Susan M. MacDonald, M.D., the Department of Medicine's Deputy Director for Faculty and Career Development, and Lisa Heiser, M.A., the Director of JHU's Career Management Program for Faculty and Staff. Getting StartedClarify Your Interests and Needs Carefully identify the personal and professional goals you have for this mentoring relationship. Consider what you would like to learn from your experience. Prepare a list of questions or concerns you have about your career development. You may wish to focus on such areas as promotion and tenure, grantsmanship, time managements, publishing, or balancing work and family life. From your list of questions, develop eight to ten specific goals for your participation in the program (refer to "Goals for Your Mentoring Experience"). Prepare for Your Role in the Mentoring Relationship Your mentor will be giving his or her time to share experiences, perspectives and approaches to developing a career within the Department of medicine. He or she will also be prepared to provide feedback to assist you in preparing for your future academic career. Actively seek feedback from your advisor. Be as specific as possible when asking for information, ideas and suggestions. Be receptive to the feedback you are offered. Use the information to improve your preparation and your performance (refer to "Making the Most of Mentoring, Mentee Guidelines"). Recognize the Value and Limits of the Relationship Like any relationship, this match involves a dynamic process in which the uniqueness, individuality and expertise of each member of the pair needs to be respected. Your mentor will be offering you "lessons from his or her experience," information, and suggestions on how to approach and solve various problems related to a career in academic medicine. Be open to the information you are offered. Show appreciation for the time and assistance given by your mentor. Recognize that some advice may seem irrelevant to you at this time, but you may find it useful later on. Other suggestions may not fit your particular personality style or approach. It will ultimately be your choice as to how you will weave the insights gained into your own evolving style. The First MeetingSetting up the Meeting Take the responsibility for setting meetings with your mentor. Experience has shown that relationship of this kind are most successful when the mentee takes the responsibility for managing the relationship. Use e-mail, letters, phone or fax as methods to maintain communication with your mentor. Reach Agreement About the Goals of Your Relationship Be prepared to outline your professional experience to date (a copy of your CV will be forwarded to your mentor in advance of your first session). Provide additional clarity and background about your career goals and aspirations (see also the "Career Timeline"). Share your prospective goals with your mentor. Working together, finalize the list of goals that your mentor feels he or she can adequately address during this experience. You may wish to clarify these goals in writing by completing the "Development Action Plan". Agree Upon the Duration, Frequency and Length of Your Meetings Four one-and-one-half-hour meetings are recommended for the Department of Medicine Mentoring Program. Agree upon when and where you will meet (your mentor's office, a breakfast meeting, etc.). Plan to keep your commitments and be on time for your meetings with your mentor. Clarify Confidentiality Some mentee and mentor pairs will feel a need for complete confidentiality in their relationship, others will not. It is critical that you and your mentor clarify the limits of confidentiality in your relationship. If both parties agree, you may wish to complete the optional mentoring agreement provided (see "Creating the Mentoring Agreement" and "The Mentoring Agreement"). Structure Your First Meeting It can be helpful to structure your first meeting because both partners often begin a mentoring relationship with high expectations and some uncertainty about how to proceed. Give some thought to how you would like the meeting to go. For example, you might consider the following outline:
Manage the Mentoring RelationshipSet Goals for Each Subsequent Meeting Just as it helps to structure your initial meeting, you can maximize your time together by setting goals for future meetings. As with all goal-setting, you do not need to strictly adhere to the goals you initially set, as other more vital matters or pressing priorities may arise. Nevertheless, some foresight and advanced planning can keep your relationship productive and worthwhile for both participants. Bring Closure to Your Relationship Structured mentoring relationships such as these are not intended to be permanent, ongoing relationships. This program is specifically time-limited to allow you to maximize opportunities for learning without long-term obligations from either party. At the same time, after the formal program's conclusion, you may continue your relationship informally, if you wish. At the conclusion of your participation in the program, make a special effort to summarize your learnings and show your appreciation for your mentor's time and efforts on your behalf. GUIDELINES FOR MENTORSThe Department of Medicine Mentoring Program has been established to assist Junior Faculty with their Career development. You have been asked to be a Mentor because of your significant accomplishments as a Professor in the Department of medicine. Your participation in this program is appreciated and will further our goals to develop our Junior Faculty. To support you in your role as a Mentor, the following guidelines are provided by Susan M. MacDonald, M.D., the Department of medicine's Deputy Director for Faculty and Career Development, and Lisa Heiser, M.A., the Director of JHU's Career Management Program for Faculty and Staff. Getting StartedAssist Your Mentee in Clarifying Interests and Needs Your mentee will be asked to carefully identify his or her personal and professional goals for this mentoring relationship before meeting with you. Mentees will be encouraged to consider questions they may have about such areas as promotion and tenure, grantwriting, time managements, publishing, or balancing work and family life. From their list of questions, they will be encouraged to develop eight to ten specific goals for their participation in the program. you may wish to suggest your mentee review these goals with you. Mentees, however, often have difficulty anticipating the kinds of questions they could be asking, given an opportunity of this kind. Prepare to assist your mentee by giving some advance thought to what your own lessons of experience have taught you. Think about key learnings and important insights you have gained as a professor in academic medicine. What aspects of research, teaching, and/or clinical practice were particularly challenging for you? What support were you given that you can now pass on to your mentee? What discoveries did you make on your own, and how can you ease the path for this junior faculty member? Prepare for Your Role in the Mentoring Relationship Plan to share your experiences, perspectives, and approaches to gaining your status as a Senior Faculty Member in the Department of Medicine (refer to "Making the Most of Mentoring, Mentor Guidlines"). An exploration of critical incidents can be particularly valuable. Consider sharing some of the key challenges you were confronted with in terms of research, grantsmanship, publishing, teaching, advising, etc.; the options you identified for resolving the problem; your decision-making strategy; the actions you took; the outcomes you obtained; and your analysis of your results. Your mentee also will be encouraged to seek feedback from you on his or her current performance. When giving feedback, be mindful of preserving your mentee's sense of self-confidence. Use confrontation and feedback skills to give clear, non-judgmental descriptions of behavior nd to show the relationship to results obtained. Assist your mentee in recognizing potential outcomes prior to taking actions. Recognize the Value and Limits of the Relationship Like any relationship, this match involves a dynamic process in which the uniqueness, individuality and expertise of each member of the pair needs to be respected. You are not expected to respond to all of your mentee's needs. Be judicious in how you spend your time together and clarify the ways in which you will choose to be of support. While sharing your expertise, refrain from telling a mentee what to do, to limit dependency. Recognize that one size does not fit all and that your mentee's personality, gender, background, or style may preclude him or her from achieving the results you obtained, using your particular techniques or approach. Assist your mentee in recognizing the options available for action and selecting the one that will work best for him or her. Recognize that some advice you offer may seem irrelevant to your mentee at this time, but may prove to be useful later on. It will ultimately be your mentee's choice as to how he or she will integrate the insights gained into his or her own evolving style, methods or approach. Your guidance and wisdom will nevertheless be invaluable. Look for opportunities for your own enrichment, as mentors often find value in the questions or fresh perspectives of mentees. The First MeetingSetting up the Meeting Your mentee will be asked to take the responsibility for setting up the first and subsequent meetings in the Mentoring Program. Experience has shown that relationships of this kind are most successful when the mentee takes the responsibility for managing the relationship. If, however, you do not hear from your mentee by the end of October, please initiate the first contact to ensure the relationship gets underway. Your mentee may contact you by e-mail, letters, phone, or fax and will use any one of these methods to maintain communication with you. Reach Agreement About the Goals of Your Relationship Your mentee will be prepared to outline his or her professional experience to date (a copy of his or her CV will be sent to you for your review in advance of your first session). He or she will plan to provide additional clarity and background about his or her career goals and aspirations and may have completed an exercise regarding his or her career timeline which also could be reviewed with you in your first meeting. Your mentee also will be encouraged to bring the list of questions or prospective goals to the first meeting. After learning more about your mentee's professional goals and particular concerns about career development in the Department of medicine, work together to finalize the list of goals that you feel can be adequately addressed during this experience. You may wish to clarify these goals in writing by completing the "Development Action Plan" that your mentee will bring to the first meeting. Agree Upon the Duration, Frequency and Length of Your Meetings Four one-and-one-half-hour meetings are recommended for the Department of medicine Mentoring Program. Agree upon when and where you will meet (your office, a breakfast meeting, etc.). Plan to keep your commitments for your meetings with your mentee. Clarify Confidentiality Some mentee and mentor pairs will feel a need for complete confidentiality in their relationship, others will not. It is critical that you and your mentee clarify the limits of confidentiality in your relationship. If both parties agree, you may wish to complete the optional mentoring agreement provided (see "Creating the Mentoring Agreement" and "The Mentoring Agreement"). Structure Your First Meeting It can be helpful to structure the first meeting because both partners often begin a mentoring relaitonship with high expectations and some uncertainty about how to proceed. Give some thought to how you would like the meeting to go. Your mentee has been provided the following outline as a possible example for structuring the first meeting: Suggestions for Mentees:
You may also want to consider the following ways in which you could contribute to the first meeting: Suggestions for Mentors:
Manage the Mentoring RelationshipSetting Goals for Each Subsequent Meeting Mentees will be encouraged to set goals for future meetings. As with all goal-setting, you do not need to strictly adhere to the goals you initially agree to, as other more vital matters or pressing priorities may arise. Nevertheless, some foresight and support in advanced planning can keep your relationship productive and worthwhile for both participants. Bring Closure to Your Relationship Structured mentoring relationships such as these are not intended to be permanent, ongoing relationships. This program is specifically time-limited to allow you to support your mentee's learning without long-term obligations from either party. At the same time, after the formal program's conclusion, you may continue your relationship informally, if you wish. Support your mentee in recognizing his or her achievements and encourage your mentee to use resources inside and outside the DoM to continue to develop his or her career. Encourage your mentee to take reasonable risks and try out new skills. Recognize the value of your role in supporting this junior faculty member and the long-term, beneficial effect that can accrue from short-term relationships of this kind. |