Category: Mentoring

Fundamentals of Professional Mentoring Workshop Q&A
by Harriet W. Hopf, MD, FUHM, FASA and Susie Martinelli, MD, FASA

Q: I have served as a mentor for many years to at least two dozen mentees. Is there anything new I can learn from this workshop?

Absolutely! We learn something new every time we teach the workshop. Much work has been done in recent years to advance our understanding of developmental relationships, which include mentoring, advising, sponsoring, and coaching. We’ll discuss these differences and challenge you to think about which approach is best for a given situation. Many of the best mentoring relationships develop organically. Formalizing a mentoring relationship by setting ground rules and commitments at the start helps a mentee learn to manage up and creates a structure for dealing with conflict or dysfunction if it develops. And your wisdom and experience will enrich the learning of all participants making the workshop even more valuable!

Continue Reading…
Using Coaching Skills as a Mentor
by Susie Martinelli, MD, FASA and Harriet W. Hopf, MD, FUHM, FASA

Mentoring can be defined as “a dynamic, reciprocal relationship in a work environment between an advanced career incumbent and a beginner aimed at promoting the development of both.”1 The mentee defines where they want to go; the mentor contributes through reality checking, sharing what the desired path could look like, giving advice on decisions and commitments, and role modeling success. As the mentor, you bring experience and perspective on a path similar to the one the mentee is pursuing, but it’s important to remember that your paths are not the same. When a mentee shares a goal or challenge, it may remind you of your own experiences, inspiring you to jump directly to giving advice. Giving advice based only on your experience, without exploring what the mentee is experiencing, can be a source of misalignment and frustration. When advice is predicated on goals assumed by the mentor, it can lead to mentee dissatisfaction, lack of progress, and burnout.

Continue Reading…
Women in Medicine Month: Women in Leadership
by Maya Jalbout Hastie, MD, EdD, Maria Bustillo, MD, and Allison Lee, MD, MS

“A single conversation with a wise [wo]man is better than ten years mere study of books” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

September is “Women in Medicine” month. Since 2020, we have dedicated the September newsletter of the AUA to women in academic anesthesiology. In this issue, we share the insights of a group of successful women leaders in academic anesthesiology, collected by open-ended survey questions. Each of our contributors is a leader in medicine who has used their position for advocacy and mentorship. Their reflections, their advice, and their insights are presented to recognize their contributions, to learn from their experiences, and to inspire the next generation of leaders in our field. We are grateful for our contributors’ time, candid advice, and thoughtful insights.

Continue Reading…
Learning from Setbacks: A New Series
by Maya Jalbout Hastie, MD, EdD and G. Burkhard Mackensen, MD, PhD, FASE, FSCAI

The career development of academic anesthesiologists requires a lifelong commitment to acquiring new skills, improving problem-solving abilities, and pursuing professionalism. Eager for growth and validation, physicians frequently invest in professional development activities to build these skill sets. However, most of our learning in the workplace, through transmission of knowledge or creation of new knowledge, occurs on-the-job and through trial and error. The learning can be either intentional or incidental and can result in explicit or implicit knowledge.1,2 In addition, dealing with defeat and failure is essential to developing our self-awareness, our humility, and our ability to learn from our own doings.3

Continue Reading…
Like a Phoenix: Rising from Professional Setbacks (or Rejection)
by Lisa Q. Rong, MD, MSCE, FASE, FACC

As a disclaimer, this the first non-academic piece that I have written. Academic writing is dry and formulaic, where every word is counted and given a purpose. After several years traveling down a physician-scientist pathway, I have greatly improved my ability to write according to those rules. While I was nervous about this piece, the amount of material I have for the topic itself—professional setbacks—is overflowing.

Continue Reading…
AUA Mentoring Program
by George A. Mashour, MD, PhD

I still remember the day I met my Ph.D. mentor, despite the fact that it was almost 30 years ago in the summer of 1993. He was (and still is) a neurosurgeon and neurogeneticist who co-discovered the mutation causing neurofibromatosis type 2 and he also developed the first oncolytic viral therapy for brain tumors. Because of his many impressive accomplishments, I was surprised by how personable and down-to-earth he was during that first meeting. While a graduate student, I marveled at his ability to be in the operating room performing surgery on one day and in the laboratory discussing molecular biology the next. He became my blueprint for a physician-scientist… and his influence on me is incalculable. 

Continue Reading…
Why I Chose to Become an AUA Mentor: David Drover
by David Drover, MD

Many AUA members share their successes in the form of publications, lectures, and grants attained. What many successful physicians and scientists take to their retirement (or grave) are the secrets of how they attained their success. Helping the next generation through facilitation, mentoring, or coaching will greatly help the next wave of AUA members attain their goals.

Continue Reading…
Why I Chose to Become an AUA Mentor: Nabil Elkassabany
by Nabil Elkassabany, MD, MSCE, MBA

“We Pay it Forward”: A Personal Account on Mentorship in Academic Anesthesiology

Mentorship plays a crucial role in academic medicine. Many mentors find helping others to be one of the most meaningful contributions they make in their careers. While a mentor serves as a support and anchor to individuals, the impact of the mentor-mentee relationship is multiplied, often many times over.

Continue Reading…
Why I Chose to Become an AUA Mentor: Elizabeth A. M. Frost
by Elizabeth A. M. Frost, MD

In the 1960s, I did not have a mentor, rather women were tolerated until they had children and, hopefully, dropped out. I had four sons and stayed with it despite the loss of my husband at an early age. Some senior leaders took pity on me and occasionally cast me a bone, such as backing my membership in the AUA. I am extremely grateful for men like Drs. Hershey, Orkin, Artusio, and Goldiner.

Continue Reading…
Why I Chose to Become an AUA Mentor: Harish Ramakrishna
by Harish Ramakrishna, MD, FACC, FESC, FASE

“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants”– Isaac Newton wrote to fellow scientist Robert Hooke in 1675 and these immortal words have come to universally symbolize the fact that creativity, innovation, knowledge, and scientific progress do not exist in a vacuum. To me they are even more inspiring because they depict a profound sense of humility from arguably the most influential scientist of all time. The essence of mentoring and mentorship, in my opinion, is not far off from this metaphor. Those of us who are mentors did indeed stand on the shoulders of giants, in some form or other and it is our duty to “pay it forward”.

Continue Reading…
WordPress › Error

There has been a critical error on this website.

Learn more about troubleshooting WordPress.