Mentorship Tips

While there are many programs in place at the Miller School to provide students with structured mentoring and advising, some of the best mentor-mentee relationships often form serendipitously; day-to-day interactions can lead to a mutual respect, and valuable long-term relationships can follow.

By being present and involved on campus, and inquisitive in your interactions with peers and faculty members, it is likely that you will find someone interested enough in you to help guide you on your path to success. Your enthusiasm in your own pursuits may be the most critical factor; others will surely notice this and be happy to help you move forward.

Sometimes students feel intimidated to reach out on their own. Don’t forget that here at the Miller School, there are many mentoring and advising programs that help facilitate this mentor-mentee pairing process. In fact, through the MS2-MS1 Peer Mentoring program, Academic Society Trainer Mentoring program, and Connecting With U faculty advising program, you already have 3 invaluable new relationships.

If you haven’t already, take some time to think about what you can do to become more engaged with these mentors and advisors and make the most of these important learning opportunities.

1. Shadow physicians. See their world, see if you appreciate what they do and enjoy being around their work environment. If so, go back a second time with curiosity and try to pick up whatever knowledge you can, whether clinical or general, as they progress through their daily responsibilities. Not all physicians feel they have the time to mentor, and that is ok. Many will feel proud to do their part in helping an enthusiastic and inquisitive medical student in the effort to follow in their footsteps. They love sharing their love for their specialties.
   
2. Get involved in a research project. If you are able to enjoy the subject of your research and meet the needs of your research team, you will have a hard time not gaining valuable mentorship from those in that field.
   
3. Talk to your professors. There will surely be times when a particular lecturer will strike your interest. Whether it is fascination by the content, or merely an appreciation of the professor’s demeanor, take advantage of your status as a Miller Medical Student and talk to them. Again, as redundant as this may sound, quality mentoring depends primarily on the enthusiasm of the mentee. If you find yourself intrigued by a professor, your curiosity will surely be welcomed. Speak with them to learn more about their subject and perhaps more about their path to their current position; you may find yourself with another supporter interested in seeing you fulfill your goals.

We hope that you make the most of whatever mentoring relationships you form, whether formal or informal, as there is so much to be learned from those who have already walked your current path.

Often, the only thing leading to a stale relationship is the failure to ask the right questions, or the failure to ask questions at all.

1. What worked well for you during 1st (or 2nd) year?
2. Is there anything you would have done differently?
3. If you had to pick 3 resources outside of our curriculum that you have found to be the most useful, what would they be?
4. What do you think your biggest improvement in studying has been since starting medical school?
5. Do you have an idea what field you want to go into? What were you able to do during your pre-clinical years to lead you in that direction?
6. Medical school can be taxing – what did you do stay to grounded and relieve stress? Do you feel that you were able to achieve a healthy balance, and if so how?

1. How did you approach your clinical rotations, what worked well for you during these years?
2. What would you have done differently in medical school?
3. At what point did you know you wanted to enter the field you chose? What are 1-3 key factors that helped you decide that?
4. What were your most useful resources in gaining accurate information about the residency application and career selection process?

1. What would you identify as your favorite part about your specialty? What drew you towards this field during medical school?
2. What are some things you think deter some people from entering your specialty? How have you reconciled these things?
3. Why did you choose to go into medicine?
4. What do you think a medical student’s primary focus should be?
5. What do you think, if anything, medical students as a whole could improve on?