It has been my experience that, when asked what they are most proud of, individuals of great accomplishment often point to people whose lives they have been able to impact. This influence usually comes in the form of education or training, but can consist of a variety of actions that help shape any aspect of someone’s life. In fact, the best influence includes both formal teaching as well guidance for life issues in general. Such counseling is typically referred to as mentoring, and is one of the most important, and in my opinion underappreciated, activities in medicine.
The activity of mentoring has been performed for many years and in virtually every society. In fact, the word itself dates back to antiquity. The word mentor was derived from a character in Homer’s Odyssey named Mentor whose identity was assumed by the goddess Athena in order to guide the son of Odysseus through some life difficulties. Since that time those who provide personal counsel in any field have been called mentors, and those who receive guidance termed mentees.
Since mentorship consists of a wide range of activities in a broad spectrum of settings, it is not surprising that the term has many differing definitions. I particularly like the definition in Wikipedia. Mentorship there is defined as a relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps to guide a less experienced or less knowledgeable person. It is described as a learning and development partnership between someone with vast experience and someone who wants to learn. Mentorship is said to incorporate psychosocial support, career guidance, role modeling, and communication.
There are several aspects of the above definition that I think warrant emphasis. The fact that the mentor is more experienced and knowledgeable is, of course, integral to the process. However, the concept of partnership is not necessarily intuitive. Obviously, the relationship must be bidirectional, since a mentee clearly cannot be guided if they are unwilling to accept the counsel. Of additional important significance is the concept that the relationship is not just one way, but that both parties vigorously interact and both have the opportunity to benefit. Mentees can help mentors achieve goals, and have their own achievements reflect very well upon the mentor. As a mentor, not only have I benefited from the satisfaction of helping someone, but I have also learned lessons that have helped me with my own life issues. In addition, the bidirectional interaction has helped me when I was in the role of a mentee.
The concept that mentorship incorporates psychosocial support is, in my view, particularly important. We in medicine are subject to having a relatively narrow view of mentoring, one that often consists of conveying knowledge, training procedural skills, developing sound judgment, and guiding career choices. We are often prone to conceive of mentorship as only related to medical competence. While there is no question that this is of fundamental importance in our setting, I believe that excellent mentoring goes beyond medical issues, and deals with all aspects of the trainees’ life for which counsel could be beneficial. There is no question that I am far from an excellent mentor. However, in this capacity I have advised mentees on a number of marital and family issues. I have tried to place medicine in the proper context of a full life. I have grieved with them upon the death of loved ones, and celebrated the birth of children and achievements unrelated to medicine. In return, I have developed relationships that are very deep and personal, and that I cherish among the most valuable benefits that I have derived from medicine. As might be expected, these benefits are often not corelated with any professional equity that may accrue to me when a trainee is extremely successful in their medical career.
Mentors can be considered to play a number of “roles” in relation to the mentee. One can consider the mentee as an apprentice, much as exists in the various trades. One might envision this role as overseeing the development of procedural skills. Since at least some procedural skills are important in nearly all medical disciplines, this is obviously a narrow but very important function. A broader role consists of that as a teacher. Here one envisions not only the transfer of knowledge, but serving as an overall role model. As alluded to above, a mentor can also fulfill the role of counselor, providing guidance in issues both medical and non-medical. As an extension of counseling, a mentor can sometimes serve as a therapist. In this role, that has been likened to that of a pastor or rabbi, the mentor can provide psychological support to those he is advising. In my view, the goal for every mentor should be to fulfill as many of these roles as possible.
Having indicated that it is desirable for a mentor to fulfill as many potential “roles” as possible, it must be recognized that this if often not possible or desirable. Especially in medicine, where specialization is so prevalent, it is clear that an individual might have one mentor for purely clinical or scientific endeavors, and another for the more wholistic aspects of life and career. In fact, some trainees may have 3 or more mentors depending upon the spectrum of their medical activities. In my experience, having multiple mentors is becoming much more common, and serves a very useful purpose. So I have become accustomed to having some mentees for certain things, knowing that they have additional mentors for others. While this provides the opportunity for mentorship for many individuals who desire it, it also emphasizes the need for those who can serve in this capacity to do so.
Despite the enormous importance of mentorship, and great potential to influence lives, it is amazing that there is very little systematic training provided for this activity in medicine. Most effective mentors seem to come by it naturally, or by on the job training, or by emulating their own mentors. It goes without saying that a good mentor must have excellent skills to offer. Nevertheless, the key characteristics of a successful mentor otherwise seem simply to be caring for someone and wanting to help them be successful. In a sense, mentoring involves the golden rule, that is treating someone as you would want to be treated. In my experience, one of the most important additional characteristics of a great mentor is the ability to let their mentee grow and become independent. Sometimes mentors want to hang on and maintain the relationship, or worse yet, see the mentee as a competitor. The best relationships are those in which the mentor takes greater pride in the achievements of the mentee than they do in their own.
I think that my enthusiasm and respect for mentorship is due to the experience with my own mentor. I began fellowship in the 70s with Dean Mason, a highly visible and enormously well respected academic cardiologist, and worked with him for 10 years. We spent many hours talking about research and writing papers. Often our conversation would drift into non-clinical and nonscientific topics. I often quipped that “Dr. Mason taught me a lot, some of it medical”. He pointed me to good career paths, and importantly, opened many doors. Looking back, many of the opportunities that I had were directly related to him. Of greatest importance, he served as a spectacular role model in every way. To me he was the quintessential mentor, and I tried to imitate him clinically, scientifically, and in mentorship, as much as I could. His effect upon me convinced me that mentorship was one of the most powerful things in medicine, and one of the most important gifts that I could bestow upon trainees.
Disclosure statement
The author has no conflicts of interest to disclose.