Mentoring is a relationship that can benefit both the mentor and the mentee. Having a supportive mentor is often critical for success and growth when becoming a new professional or changing jobs. Mentoring relationships are valuable for students who are exploring careers, or need strong recommendations to take their next step into the professional world. Being an effective mentor can help hone your leadership skills, expose you to different perspectives and ideas, enhance your reputation, and bring the satisfaction of having helped a junior colleague or student.
At GW there are several departments that provide support for mentoring. One of them is housed in Himmelfarb Library! The SMHS Center for Faculty Excellence is located on our first floor. Helping support and develop mentoring relationships for faculty at all stages in their careers is part of their services. They have programs to support both Micro-Mentoring, which is one-on-one mentoring, or Peer Mentoring Groups for cohorts of 6-8 junior faculty. Additionally they will present Effective Mentoring Workshops to departments on request. Visit their Mentoring Resources page for more information on these programs and their Mentoring Toolkit.
The Milken Institute School of Public Health has TEAM Milken - Transition, Engagement, Academics, and Mentorship. The program aims to provide individualized support to GWSPH majors to help them thrive academically and professionally. A peer mentoring program for undergraduate students will launch this spring. The TEAM has 30+ staff and faculty participants to provide outreach and guidance.
The Office of the Vice Provost for Research provides resources for mentoring researchers. This includes mentoring undergraduate students through research internships and assistantships, and mentoring post-doctoral researchers. Research at SMHS offers advice to medical students on finding a research mentor.
The Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship includes mentoring as a core component of the program. They sponsor a mentoring network through the GW Innovation Exchange. The exchange helps students interested in entrepreneurship connect with alumni or community professionals to find collaborative opportunities and internships.
Talent@GW has some free online learning resources on mentoring available through LinkedIn Learning.
Himmelfarb’s collections provide access to information on mentoring in medicine and health sciences:
Clutterbuck DA, Kochan FK, Lunsford LG, Domínguez N, Haddock-Millar J. The SAGE Handbook of Mentoring. SAGE Reference; 2017. Book Stacks BF637.M45 S34 2017 https://wrlc-gwahlth.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01WRLC_GWAHLTH/ibd6lr/alma991000412889704110
Evans MM, Kowalchik K, Riley K, Adams L. Developing Nurses Through Mentoring: It Starts in Nursing Education. Nurs Clin North Am. 2020 Mar;55(1):61-69. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cnur.2019.10.006. Epub 2019 Dec 24. PMID: 32005366.
Henry-Noel N, Bishop M, Gwede CK, Petkova E, Szumacher E. Mentorship in Medicine and Other Health Professions. J Cancer Educ. 2019 Aug;34(4):629-637. http://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-018-1360-6. PMID: 29691796.
Roberts SE, Nehemiah A, Butler PD, Terhune K, Aarons CB. Mentoring Residents Underrepresented in Medicine: Strategies to Ensure Success. J Surg Educ. 2021 Mar-Apr;78(2):361-365. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsurg.2020.08.002. Epub 2020 Aug 21. PMID: 32839148.
