Mentoring can be traced back to Greek mythology. In Homer’s “the Odyssey”, Mentor is the trusted friend of Odysseus, king of Ithaca. While Odysseus is fighting the Trojan War, Mentor watches over his household, acting as teacher and adviser to his son, Telemachus.
A mentor is defined as an experienced or trusted adviser. Benefits have been described for both the mentor and the protégé. Benefits to the mentor may include: opportunity for personal reflection; enhanced reputation; satisfaction in knowing that the profession will be enhanced as a result; and a sense of accomplishment to name a few. Benefits to the protégé include, but are not limited to: exposure to new ideas and experiences; self confidence in decision making; opportunity to develop a relationship with a role model; increased access to professional contacts; development of stronger interpersonal skills; and identification of weaknesses and ways to address them.
A significant number of organizations such as AT&T and Apple have recognized and are adopting mentoring programs within their corporations. ASHP recently launched a mentoring program. If you lack the opportunity to mentor within your own institution but have an interest in sharing your knowledge and experience with others, check out the ASHP website and sign up to be a mentor with them.
Our residency program offers a mentoring plan. Each resident is matched with a mentor with similar personality characteristics and/or specialty interests. The mentor is someone who the resident can talk to about anything- to vent frustrations and not fear repercussions. The mentor is also someone who takes a personal interest in the resident outside of the hospital. They do things like taking residents who are new to the area out for dinner and introducing them to the local area.
It’s important to point out that mentors do not need to have all the answers. In my experience, being a mentor means letting the mentee see your weaknesses. Being less than perfect can be a learning experience for a protégé. The ability to admit to not knowing something can be a hard lesson to learn- having it modeled by a revered mentor at appropriate times can be reassuring. So don’t let your own insecurities or imperfections keep you from being a mentor. Whatever your life and/or career experiences, chances are that you have learned some lessons along the way that a newer practitioner, resident, or student can learn from. Take a step outside of your comfort zone and offer the benefit of your experience to help someone else starting their journey in this great profession of ours.
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