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To Mentor

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An Insider’s Guide to Academic Medicine

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Abstract

Mentor himself was not a mentor. Even though I had read the Odyssey, albeit more than 50 years ago, this came as something of a surprise. Mentor was “Odysseus’ friend-in-arms to whom the king, sailing off to Troy, committed his household, ordering one and all to obey the old man and he would keep things steadfast and secure.” The advisor of Odysseus’ son Telemachus was actually the goddess Athena who appeared to him in many guises, one of which was as Mentor. According to A. Roberts, the idea for Mentor as advisor came from a sixteenth Century book, Les Adventures de Telemaque by Francois de Salignac de La Mothe-Fenelon, a French mystic, religious writer and educator [1]. Now Mentor is synonymous with an experienced and trusted advisor able to provide wise counsel. People remember their mentors who constitute a major influence on their careers. For example, 43% of the Kober Medal recipients of the Association of American Physicians (an award for high achievement in research in medicine) referred to their mentors, by name [2]. Many studies have shown that those in academic medicine at all levels from student to senior faculty cite the importance and influence of their mentors; mentorship has been cited as an important influence on personal development, career guidance, career choice, and research productivity, including publication and grant success [3]. Mentors seem to be particularly important for women and underrepresented minorities [4, 5].

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Notes

  1. 1.

    https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/steven_spielberg_584069#:~:text=Steven%20Spielberg%20Quotes&text=The%20delicate%20balance%20of%20mentoring%20someone%20is%20not%20creating%20them,the%20opportunity%20to%20create%20themselves. Accessed 6-10-20.

  2. 2.

    Homer. The Odyssey. Robert Fagles translation.

  3. 3.

    I dislike the term mentee, though I find myself using it. According to Merrill Perlman, the term goes back at least to 1916 when a report by a Dartmouth professor said that the University of Michigan’s School of Engineering had a system: “Each instructor (called a ‘mentor’) has ten students (called ‘mentees’) and retains the same ones throughout the course.” Older terms such as protégés have fallen out of favor. She wrote: “A ‘protégé’ by any other name may not smell as sweet, but please don’t call yourself a ‘manatee’ (as has been done), gentle beast though it is.” Perlman M. Columbia Journalism Review April 2011. https://archives.cjr.org/language_corner/mentee_fresh.php. Accessed 6-10-20.

  4. 4.

    A great deal of print has been devoted to the differences between a mentor and a coach. The increase seems to be associated with the degree to which executive and personal coaching have become commercially viable.

  5. 5.

    There is a large literature on the problems that can develop in a mentoring relationship.

  6. 6.

    One of them was Dr. Murray Altose was Chief of Staff. He is among the wisest people I know. That is not to say that we always agree. Hardly. However, I have learned much from him about leadership. He is one of the few people to whom I gave a copy of my first book—Complex Systems in Medicine.

  7. 7.

    I think I was a few months or maybe 1 year older.

  8. 8.

    In 2020, I received the award for Graduate Student Teaching and Mentoring from the business school and 2021, I received the School of Medicine’s Award for Mentoring. Cool!

  9. 9.

    When I was considering the job for Associate Chief of Medicine, I called my uncle who had been an oceanography researcher and gave up the lab (and boat) to become an administrator of a large government laboratory. I asked him how he was able to make that change. He gave me some of the best advice I ever received. He said if you can take pleasure in the success of those who work for you as much or more than your personal success, then take the job. If not, then not. I did take that job and never regretted it.

  10. 10.

    I had known Anne since she was a medical student and had been a mentor at least since residency. She became a fellow in the second class of the VA Quality Scholars program. Some years later, after she had moved, the program was opened to new sites. She was the director of that site. It happened to be my birthday on the day of one of our national teleconferences with all the sites participating on Zoom. My fellows had thrown a party and the place was decorated accordingly. During the conference, numerous birthday wishes appeared in the chat box. Then one came from her site, saying: “Happy birthday from your grandchildren.”

  11. 11.

    It is said that if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it, but there are many things that are important that cannot be measured, yet still have to be managed. Moreover, it may be a misquotation of W. Edwards Deming who in The New Economics actually wrote: “It is wrong to suppose that if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it—a costly myth.” It would seem that Deming actually meant the opposite of what the shortened version maintains. https://blog.deming.org/2015/08/myth-if-you-cant-measure-it-you-cant-manage-it/. Accessed 6-12-20.

  12. 12.

    This reminds me of the scene in the musical Jersey Boys about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons when Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio come to an agreement about how they will share revenues derived from the songs they write and performances. Gaudio said that he would have a contract drawn up. Valli sticks out his hand to shake Gaudio’s hand, saying ‘where I come from, this is all you need.’ And they continue to stick to that agreement long after they went their separate ways. It also reminds me of one of Simone’s Maxims: “The longer and more detailed the written offer to a new faculty recruit, the more likely both sides will be unhappy.” Simone JV. Simone’s Maxims Updated and Expanded: Understanding Today’s Academic Medical Centers, Editorial Rx Press, N. Fort Myers FL, 2012, p81. Although not completely on point, it does support the idea that more detail implies an underlying distrust. In addition, this gave me an excuse to cite Simone’s book which has a wealth of pithy and colorful sayings and is not only practical, but also great fun to read.

  13. 13.

    I wish I had made this up, but it comes from the movie Chariots of Fire and is uttered by the athletics coach Sam Mussabini.

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  1. School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA

    David C. Aron

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Aron, D.C. (2023). To Mentor. In: An Insider’s Guide to Academic Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-19535-8_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-19535-8_7

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