Erin Mannen, Ph.D., has been a faculty member for just two years, and yet she is mentoring medical students, residents, postdoctoral fellows, a PhD student and a
summer engineering intern.
“I’m mentoring a lot of different folks,” she said. “And as a new faculty, I feel like I need a lot of mentoring for myself.”
That led Mannen to join more than 30 UAMS faculty members from all five colleges for the TRI-sponsored Mentoring Matters training workshop in January.
It was time well spent, she said.
“The takeaway for me was that mentoring is a lot about just building relationships, and even though I’m a young faculty, I still have a lot to offer as a mentor to these different folks at different levels in their own schooling or career,” she said.
Tom Chung, Ph.D., said the course would be helpful to any mentor, regardless of experience.
“It’s a good way for mentors to review their own habits, so to speak,” he said. “It’s a good refreshment opportunity.”
Tilford, Ph.D., Reza Hakkak, Ph.D., and Erick Messias, M.D., Ph.D. (Mark Mathews photo)
Most of the participants were junior faculty with 1-5 years of mentoring experience, according to a report based on feedback from the participants.
Comments provided anonymously by participants included:
“The workshop was great and full of lots of great discussions. Please continue to give others this opportunity.”
“The most valuable take to me is the personal experience and knowledge shared by the senior faculty.”
Praise for Erick Messias, M.D., Ph.D., one of the mentor trainers: “His insight, experience and ability to deliver knowledge is amazing. It was a pleasure to listen and learn from him.”
The knowledge gained from the workshop also led participants to raise their self-assessed mentoring competency scores based on five mentoring skills: maintaining effective communication; aligning expectations; assessing understanding; fostering independence; and promoting professional development.