Mentorship in Research: It s really really important

Transcription

1 Mentorship in Research: It s really really important Allan Garland, MD, MA Professor of Medicine & Community Health Sciences

2 Introduction Key ingredients for a successful research career: training -- methods, and in doing research dedication real protected research time -- and enough of it Strong mentorship (smarts) Rare for young researchers to succeed (and become older researchers) without good mentorship at the beginning both during training, AND as junior faculty

3 What a Mentor Does For You Teach you to do research -- it s like an apprenticeship Help you plan out your career over time which avenues/projects to pursue, which are dead ends grant (career) planning -- local & national landscape of funders and grant types, application timing (e.g. career development awards) Teach you to write successful grants and papers Encourage you and your career path -- sometimes pushing Help you network -- local, national, international most successful researchers extensively collaborate (esp. in Canada) networking is also important for job hunting, within professional societies, etc. Help you through rough spots/provide emotional support rejections of papers and grants; getting stuck in the project

4 Arranging Your Mentorship Choose the mentor or the project?? Interview prospective mentor(s) -- discuss: potential project(s) her/his mentorship style -- relative to what you think you need (e.g. scheduled meetings vs. open door) Seek out and talk to his/her prior mentees This relationship and its elements should be explicit agree on the mentorship and its plan -- don t assume anything (consider a mentorship contract ) clear understanding about frequent meetings -- one of the biggest mistakes is to go long intervals between meetings, esp. if you re having trouble on the project

5 Arranging Your Mentorship - 2 Does the mentor need to be local? e.g. do a research fellowship with a mentor get a junior faculty job elsewhere, where there isn t an obvious mentor local is best, but distance mentoring can work -- and with this it s even more important to have an explicit understanding Does the mentor need to be a content expert? e.g. at that new job, there s a superb researcher with a great mentoring track record, who is tied into the local research environment, but isn t in your field such a person can supply many of the key mentoring elements Need not be a single person -- group mentorship can work e.g. distance content expert + local research guru (or the reverse) they should have a conversation and agree on their roles but must avoid the pitfall of nobody really doing it

6 Miscellaneous Mentor Issues Troubles with your project, or other difficulties -- good chance they ve been through it and might be able to help What if it s not working out? it s an interpersonal relationship, it happens -- and it s not the end of the world or the end of your research career may be possible to continue on the project with a new mentor -- but sometimes must find a new mentor and a new project maturity and calmness required by both parties Make sure to discuss post-training job offers with your mentor! How long does the mentorship last? it s variable -- typically 5-10 years mentors can continue to be a source of support for decades -- they ll always view themselves as a mentor to you remember -- you ll need letters every time you go up for promotion

7 OK, Do I Really Need This Kind of Mentorship? If research is a real part your career plan -- YES even if it s only a minor part, but you want to do good quality research What if I m just going to do a small student project? -- maybe not in this situation you won t (yet) need guidance about things like applying for grants, but... it depends on what you want to get out of it -- e.g. trying to figure out if you really like research vs. your summer job at Target fell through it depends on what you ll be doing on the project -- e.g. plucking specific data items out of patient charts vs. working on a systematic review

8 Finally BIG mistake: Thinking that because you were well-trained and had good mentorship during your training, that you don t need similar mentorship once you become a junior faculty member Contrary to the belief of students/trainees, the other pressures on junior faculty (clinical, committees, teaching) make it much harder to focus and continue being productive Junior faculty need strong guidance -- without it many/most will fail in the big goal of becoming developing into independentlyfunded researchers Junior faculty must learn when and how to say no to many of the opportunities/invitations they are offered, that reduce their true, protected research time

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