What is mentoring?
Mentoring is a process in which an experienced professional (mentor) guides a less experienced student or early career professional (mentee) to strengthen their knowledge base and develop new skills. Mentors help establish professional goals through a series of ongoing conversations and learning activities or events. This mutual relationship is based on trust and respect. It is considered an old form of learning, in which both mentors and mentees learn from each other.
Mentoring is an excellent means for professional growth and development.
| MENTORSHIP IS | MENTORSHIP IS NOT |
| • A commitment
• Being open minded • A sharing experience • Improving communication skills • Increasing networking opportunities • Strengthening professional skills • Expanding one’s worldview |
• A guarantee of a job or internship
• Therapy • Supervision • Tutoring • Effortless |
BENEFITS OF MENTORING PROGRAM
Mentoring is a beneficial both to the students and the mentors.
Benefits to Mentor: Contribute personally to the development of a future professional, improve communication skills and advising skills, develop skills in mentoring, could possibly recruit mentees to his/her respective fields of work, reflect on practices and personal career choices, share years of experience, expand his/her professional networks, and possibly acquire fresh enthusiasm for his/her own professional career.
Benefits to Mentee: Receive guidance and gain practical resources, participate in discussion regarding career interests, If possible, make multiple connections within a broader network of the public health field, work directly and interact with a positive role model, leader, successful expert, and professional colleague, connect education and training to professional experience, discuss a variety of public health careers and workplaces, ask specific questions, Receive constructive feedback and advice for his/ her professional goals and professional skills, understand how to balance work and personal life, Improve specific professional skills and knowledge, benefit from the mentor’s expertise and public health experience, understand more specifically what to focus on for professional growth, and explore professional development opportunities
Mentoring provide students with a working knowledge of the public health system and the context in which decisions and public health interventions are implemented. It was an opportunity for students to interact with knowledge-user partners and assess the gap between research and practice. Effective mentorship was key to help students interpret the public health reality and develop population health intervention research skills. Students learn to ask the “how” questions that are critical for in-depth understanding of complex interventions and the conditions under which they can be best implemented.
Reference: NHPHA mentoring guide 2020, photo from https://www.evidencebasedmentoring.org/,
