Being a Mentor

A mentor is usually a senior surgeon who takes a particular interest in a junior surgeon or a senior trainee, and guides their development in the specialty, offering advice, providing support, creating opportunities, and in general facilitating the growth of the mentee in skill and stature. While it is possible to be a mentor to multiple surgeons at once, this is usually a more superficial relationship than that achieved when the relationship is one to one. For one-to one mentorship there must be a personality match. The mentor and the mentee like each other, respect each other, and share interests and philosophies. The mentee benefits by receiving the wisdom and experience of the mentor, by the opportunities created, and by the continued sponsorship throughout the early career. The mentor benefits by passing on a legacy, by seeing themselves in the mentee, by the friendship, and by the satisfaction derived from success.

Being a mentor is a responsibility to be sure, but also a pleasure. Early in the budding relationship mentor and mentee discover shared interests. This leads to frequent discussions over increasingly esoteric and academic points, a desire to turn discussions into research, and a practical outworking during clinical practice. One of the early discussions is to discover the life and career aspirations of the mentee, which will allow the mentor to start working on a plan. It is to be hoped that the mentee has the required skillset and work ethic to meet the requirements of his chosen career and those of the mentor. This is usually the case.