Functions Mentors May Perform
Mentors perform a multitude of functions for their mentees. Such functions may include:
- Providing training
- Stimulating the acquisition of knowledge
- Providing information about educational programs
- Providing emotional support and encouragement, or helping the mentee develop coping strategies during periods of turmoil
- Socializing the mentee regarding the role requirements, expectations, organizational imperatives and demands of academic medicine
- Creating an understanding of the academic bureaucracy, its strengths and weaknesses
- Inculcating, by example, a positive value system for a productive professional work ethic
- Providing, by example, informal instructions about demeanor, etiquette, collegiality, and day-to-day interpersonal relations
- Assisting the mentee in building self-confidence, heightening self-esteem, and strengthening motivation to perform at their greatest potential