Mentoring the Mentors: Just Because You Have the Title Doesn't Mean You Know What You Are Doing

Abstract The benefits of mentoring are well documented (Buddeberg-Fischer, 2006; Kasworm, 2010). Every industry has mentors and proteges who seek mentors who achieved their aspirations. But what training do our mentors have in effective mentorship? Recognizing that it is never too early to learn, yet often overlooked, the Weill Cornell/Rockefeller/Sloan-Kettering Tri-lnstitutional MD-PhD Program created a mentor-training program for its MD-PhD students. Since 1997, MD-PhD students served as Brothers/Sisters to the Gateways to the Laboratory Summer Program for undergraduates, a summer program run by the Tri-lnstitutional MD-PhD Program. The student mentors were taught effective mentoring techniques and the value of working with other mentors to develop ideas and creatively solve issues their mentees are facing. They learned how to get to the root of their proteges concerns and challenges. This is a life long skill that the mentors can use as they develop their own careers as physician-scientists. Keywords: mentoring, training, leadership, discussion skills, physician scientists Introduction Mentoring can be traced back to Greek Mythology. Before going to fight in the Trojan War, Odysseus asked Mentor to watch over his son, Telemachos (Barondess, 1994). Since then, mentors have been referred to as advisors, coaches, teachers and advocates. It is expected that mentors have a special skill-that of who can cultivate future leaders. We all seek mentors to guide us in our careers and decisions. But really, what mentoring skills do our mentors have? Just because they are doing the job we potentially want, doesn't mean that they know how to mentor. A common assumption in society is that just because people have content expertise, life experiences and match our gender or ethnicity, they can successfully mentor others. Often, the most successful in the field, are given mentoring responsibilities--yet, there is no necessary connection between the two. The benefits of mentoring are well documented (Buddeberg-Fischer, 2006; Kasworm, 2010). Yet, we throw people into a mentoring role without training them on mentoring skills, and then protest if we are not satisfied with their assistance. If training programs do exist, there is no safeguard in place to make sure the mentors in training comprehended what they were being taught. In 1993, the Weill Cornell/Rockefeller/Sloan-Kettering Tri-lnstitutional MDPhD Program initiated a summer program, Gateways to the Laboratory Program (Gateways), for college students who are underrepresented minority, disadvantaged or have a disability. Current MD-PhD students are assigned to mentor roles through the Brothers/Sisters Big Program, which was initiated in 1997. The Sibs all knew each other socially, as they were all MD-PhD students in the same program. However, they were not aware of each other's mentoring strengths, leadership capabilities, experiences and backgrounds, and as such, never worked as a cohesive group. Furthermore, their leadership and mentoring qualities were never formally developed. By the very nature of them being in a combined MD-PhD Program, the MD-PhD students are very bright, self motivated and multidimensional (Brass LF, 2010). Most of the Sibs previously had mentors without even appreciating it. For many of them, serving as a Sib was the first time they were in the mentor role, but it is a great experience, as they will need these skills when they become physician-scientists and have student mentees of their own. As scientists and medical students, they are voracious learners and for the most part are very organized and have exceptional time management and study skills. They are self-motivated and have an internal desire to excel at everything they do. They are taught early in their training to listen to the patient and look for what is not obvious. As scientists, they are looking for what is uncommon. …