Mentorship in Clinical and Translational Research

• Understand that mentoring relationships are valuable at every phase of a clinical and translational research career.
• Recognize that mentoring needs and expectations evolve throughout career stages.
• Understand that knowing yourself (e.g. your goals, values, work styles, and definition of success) facilitates effective mentoring.
• Appreciate the need for a dynamic mentoring network.
• Understand that mentoring relationships have mutual responsibilities and benefits for both the mentee and mentor.
• Recognize that productive mentoring relationships have structure and follow a lifecycle.
• Recognize how to assess mentoring relationships.

After navigating the Understand Mentoring Needs section of the guide, you will be able to:

• Recognize that mentoring supports career and life success.
• Describe how mentoring needs evolve throughout a career.

After navigating the Know Yourself section of the guide, you will be able to:

• Craft your personal definition of success.
• Leverage tools to guide your self-reflection on who you are, what you value, and how you work best.
• Prepare for career development conversations with your mentor.
• Articulate the value you bring to a mentoring relationship.
• Advocate for the expertise and support you need to excel.

After navigating the Cultivate Mentoring Relationships section of the guide, you will be able to:

• Describe the typical phases of a mentoring relationship.
• Leverage mentoring agreement documents to establish mutual expectations at the start of a mentoring relationship.
• Recognize the value of effective communication in maintaining mentoring relationships.
• Access resources for avoiding and resolving conflict within mentoring relationships.
• List strategies mentees and mentors can use to advocate and foster independence.
• Describe methods to assess progress in mentoring relationships.
• Recognize that productive mentoring relationships have defined end-points.

After navigating the Build a Mentoring Network section of the guide, you will be able to:

• Define the roles typically represented in a dynamic mentoring network.
• Map out your developmental mentoring network.
• Recognize best practices for preparing for, engaging in, and locating networking opportunities.
• Describe how to identify and reach out to a new potential mentor.

After navigating the Assess Mentoring Relationships section of the guide, you will be able to:

• Appreciate that assessment, both of the mentor and the mentee, is a critical tool that can help mentoring relationships thrive.
• Recognize that assessment in mentoring relationships may take many forms including self-reflection, ongoing conversation, and formal evaluation.
• Define characteristics and actions that foster effective mentee-mentor relationships.
• Explore published survey instruments used to evaluate mentorship.
• Identify strategies to create your own assessments that align with your mentoring audience and goals.