The mentor–mentee relationship in medicine is a rapport between a more senior physician and a junior one, typically a medical student, resident, or early-career physician. The mentor can help the mentee improve his or her abilities and skills as a clinician by observing, assessing, modeling, and providing career guidance. A mentor is often one of the most valuable resources young physicians or students can have as they begin their journey into medicine.
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July 2018So, how do the mentees know whether or not they’re on track? We asked three physicians about their current work and home lives, their career plans, and the advice they are following to plan successfully (“the mentees”). We then asked three more-senior physicians to comment on the mentees’ answers and use insight from their own lives to explain how they agree or disagree in their thinking (“the mentors”).
The first two of our mentees don’t have formal relationships with their commentators, but our final pairing has an established mentor–mentee relationship.