Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Mentorship Principles and Practice

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Part of the book series: Success in Academic Surgery ((SIAS))

  • 1077 Accesses

Abstract

Mentorship is defined as a dynamic, reciprocal relationship in a work environment between an advanced-career incumbent (mentor) and a beginner (mentee) aimed at promoting the career development of both. Effective mentors are essential for helping people identify and leverage their “golden nugget”—their unique combination of interests, skills, and life experiences that can add value to our world. Highly effective mentors always have their mentee’s backs; take the mentee where they want to go, not where the mentor went; create a dynamic of bi-directional learning, where the mentor learns as much as the mentee; foster a positive culture of mentorship; think beyond their own lived experiences at work; act as upstanders for workplace equity; and use self-reflection to constantly strive for mentorship excellence. In this chapter, we illustrate these core principles of effective mentorship, using stories from our own experiences as mentees and mentors and through case studies exploring common mentorship pitfalls.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 64.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Page SE. The diversity bonus: how great teams pay off in the knowledge economy. Princeton: Princeton University Press; 2018.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  2. Rogers CL. Client-centered approach to therapy. In: Kutash IL, Wolf A, editors. Psychotherapist’s casebook: theory and technique in practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass; 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Nietzsche F. Thus spoke Zarathustra. Ernst Schmeitzner: Chemnitz; 1885.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Johannson F. The medici effect. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press; 2004.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Chopra V, Dimick JB, Saint S. Making mentorship a team effort. 2020. https://hbr.org/2020/03/making-mentorship-a-team-effort. Accessed 7 Jun 2020.

  6. Choi AMK, Moon JE, Steinecke A, Prescott JE. Developing a culture of mentorship to strengthen academic medical centers. Acad Med. 2019;94(5):630–3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Jagsi R, Griffith KA, Jones R, Perumalswami CR, Ubel P, Stewart A. Sexual harassment and discrimination experiences of academic medical faculty. JAMA. 2016;315(19):2120–1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Ginther DK, Kahn S, Schaffer WT. Gender, race/ethnicity, and National Institutes of Health R01 research awards: is there evidence of a double bind for women of color? Acad Med. 2016;91(8):1098–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Palepu A, Carr PL, Friedman RH, Amos H, Ash AS, Moskowitz MA. Minority faculty and academic rank in medicine. JAMA. 1998;280(9):767–71.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Pololi L, Cooper LA, Carr P. Race, disadvantage and faculty experiences in academic medicine. J Gen Intern Med. 2010;25(12):1363–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Jagsi R, Means O, Lautenberger D, et al. Women’s representation among members and leaders of National Medical Specialty Societies. Acad Med. 2019;95(7):1043–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Lett LA, Orji WU, Sebro R. Declining racial and ethnic representation in clinical academic medicine: a longitudinal study of 16 US medical specialties. PLoS One. 2018;13(11):e0207274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Rodriguez JE, Campbell KM, Pololi LH. Addressing disparities in academic medicine: what of the minority tax? BMC Med Educ. 2015;15:6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Lett LA, Murdock HM, Orji WU, Aysola J, Sebro R. Trends in racial/ethnic representation among US medical students. JAMA Netw Open. 2019;2(9):e1910490.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Association of American Medical Colleges. Accessibility, inclusion, and action in medical education: lived experiences of learners and physicians with disabilities. 2018. https://store.aamc.org/accessibility-inclusion-and-action-in-medical-education-lived-experiences-of-learners-and-physicians-with-disabilities.html. Accessed 7 Jun 2020.

  16. Soklaridis S, Zahn C, Kuper A, Gillis D, Taylor VH, Whitehead C. Men’s fear of mentoring in the #MeToo era—what’s at stake for academic medicine? N Engl J Med. 2018;379(23):2270–4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Chopra V, Edelson DP, Saint S. A PIECE OF MY MIND. Mentorship malpractice. JAMA. 2016;315(14):1453–4.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Johnson WB, Smith D. Athena rising: how and why men should mentor women. Bibliomotion: Brookline; 2016.

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Michelle H. Moniz

  2. Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Justin B. Dimick

Authors
  1. Michelle H. Moniz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Justin B. Dimick
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Justin B. Dimick .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Dana A. Telem

  2. Department of Surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Colin A. Martin

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Moniz, M.H., Dimick, J.B. (2021). Mentorship Principles and Practice. In: Telem, D.A., Martin, C.A. (eds) Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Success in Academic Surgery. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55655-6_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55655-6_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-55654-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-55655-6

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation