You may have heard about mentors throughout medical school but wondered how it affected you. Or maybe you’ve lost touch with a previous guide and want to find a new one.
Regardless of your reasons, mentoring in medicine can provide many benefits toward your professional development—whether you have one or want to become one (or both!).
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Benefits of Having a Mentor
Anyone from new medical students to experienced professionals can understand the importance of mentors. These positive role models allow you to get support where and how you need it. Some of the advantages you may reap from these relationships include:
Emotional Support
Your mentor wants to support, inspire and celebrate your wins. They can also help lighten the emotional burden of challenging patient experiences.
If you encounter a roadblock, you can reach out to your guide for encouragement, advice or support, which may make it easier to overcome them.
Learning Opportunities
A mentor can help you develop your skills and confidence in a clinical setting. They should be willing to provide constructive feedback, answer questions or talk to you about their own experiences.
You may also learn more about communicating with patients, other professionals and the community. Developing clinical skills alongside a trusted adviser may improve your transition into working in a new setting.
Career Success
By enhancing your learning opportunities and offering advice or guidance, working with a mentor may improve your career success and satisfaction.
You and your guide can identify growth opportunities, or they can introduce you to more professionals to expand your network.
Growth for Underrepresented Groups
Mentorship can help play a significant role in improving diversity and inclusion in the healthcare field. Practitioners from underrepresented groups may feel better supported by an adviser.
As a result, these individuals can feel seen and heard and have more room for growth in their careers.
How to Find a Mentor
Ideally, you should find a mentor as early as possible—likely while you’re still in medical school or preparing for residency. Regardless, it’s never too late to find potential guides. Here are some simple ways to get started:
- Connect with people in your workplace or program
- Ask trusted professionals for advice or guidance
- Reach out to national organizations with mentorship programs
Many health workers have more than one mentor throughout their careers. If you’d like, search for one for clinical, research and overall career help. Or join group or workshop coaching sessions.
What to Look For in a Mentor
Once you understand the benefits of mentorship in medicine, you can determine what characteristics to look for in your next one. The Association of American Medical Colleges suggests mentors should:
- Be aware of cultural, social and personal differences
- Demonstrate emotional intelligence
- Be willing to invest time and energy into providing good mentorship
Finding a guide(s) you mesh well with can make or break your experience with them. When you connect with those willing to help you grow, learn and succeed, you both benefit from the relationship.
Advantages of Becoming a Mentor
The fun doesn’t have to stop there—you can have a mentor and become one, too. There are plenty of reasons to step into this role, but some major advantages include:
- Expanding your network
- Improving your career satisfaction and advancement
- Leaving a legacy and imparting knowledge to another generation of healthcare leaders
- Fostering new skills and ideas, from leadership to clinical care
If you’d enjoy being a mentor, consider taking someone under your wing or forging relationships with potential mentees.
Enhance Your CME Experience
If you need help finding a mentor or want leadership advice, CME conferences can be a great place to start. Attending CME seminars helps you stay up-to-date with new developments in healthcare and provides unique networking opportunities.
Explore our CME conferences and start your healthcare mentorship journey.