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