The Importance of Mentor/Mentee Relationships

Julie Ann Freischlag, MDThe William Stewart Halsted

ProfessorChair, Department of Surgery

Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions

“We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results”

Herman Melville

“The mentor’s spirit is the heart’s posture pervading every healthy relationship in every family, classroom, organization and town.”

Marsha Sinetar

MENTORING THE STUDENT

“ Learners acquire problem solving approaches, technical skills, clinical judgment and professional attitudes from observing others.”

Bandura 1988

Both being mentored and mentoring are active, growthful experiences.

A GOOD MENTORAuthentic dialogue promotes mature self-

governing work teams who “walk the talk”

• sound judgment• independent thinking• a tendency to think divergently• good humor• definite purpose• moral elevation and reliability• fidelity• honorable interpersonal proclivities

How to Mentor Students

1.Affirm being a physician/scientist and its further potential

2.Be genuine and emotionally available to enter into a dialogue about being a physician/scientist

3.Set clear boundaries - list the good and bad of the specialty

4.Enlist others with whom the student can talk for specific reasons - (specialty, gender, race, location, family issues, background, etc.)

How To Mentor Students (cont.)

5.Share the values and virtues of your specialty (the good, the bad and the ugly)

6.Stabilize the students’ doubts and uncertainties- it’s OK not to know

7.Be available more than once- in person, email, by phone.

8.Congratulate them on a good job of figuring it out.

A MENTOR is a person, a guide, or a teacher - the keeper of selective wisdoms.

The MENTOR’S SPIRIT is the “almost anything” that deepens our sense of the sacred or our understanding or transmits a kind of gladness about life itself.

There is but one Spirit - one good, infinite, intelligent and unbounded permeating reality.

Mentors are:

GUIDESVIRTUOUSTRUSTING AND

TRUSTWORTHYPEOPLE LOVERSEMPATHETICNON JUDGMENTALAUTHENTIC

HOW TO BE A MENTOR’S MENTOR:

10. Let Go of Your Expectations9. Put Things in Perspective8. Set A Good Example7. Agree to Disagree6. Make Light of Being Overwhelmed5. Keep Your Promises4. Forgive Your Outbursts3. Set A Positive Emotional Climate2. Learn From Children - they live in the

moment.1. Live From Your Heart

We need to recognize that diversity – managing and leading across differences – is not an initiative or a program; it should be a competency that anyone who manages people must learn if he or she is to be an effective leader.

Model the behavior you are asking of

others

Mentoring and its importance in the education and training of science professionals

•Relationships between mentors and their trainees prepare the next generation of science professionals.•Both the mentor and the trainee have responsibilities for the success of the process.•Need to assure fair access to mentors and the impact of a lack of mentoring on women and minorities. Banquet speech, Rosalyn Yallor, 1977

The Complexity of the Role of Mentoring

•A mentor has experience with the challenges that trainees face.•A mentor has the ability to communicate that experience and the willingness to do so.•A mentor takes a special interest in helping another person develop into a successful professional. NAS, 1997 Washington, DC National Academy Press

Socialization

•Acquiring the norms and standards, the values and attitudes, as well as the knowledge, skills and behavior patterns associated with particular statuses and roles•The process through which people are inducted into a culture or subculture•Demanding standards of work H. Zuckerman, 1977 New York, NY; Free Press

Truly Complete Mentor

Serves as an advisor/guide, developer of talent/coach, opener of doors/advocate, role model, interpreter of organizational or professional rules, protector, rule setter/boss and carries on all of these functions on a long term basis

W. Silen, MD

Dean for Faculty Development and Diversity/Harvard

Medical School, 1998

Wide Range of Needs to be Met

• Should help trainees develop as capable researchers (methods, directions, creative thinking, completing academic or professional requirements and scientific communication)

• Prepare for job market (opportunities, contacts, range of career options and which grants to apply for)

Wide Range of Needs to be Met

• Socialization – ethical development, interaction within the academic community and instilling a sense of collegiality (teaching, communications, working in teams, leadership, people management, administration and budgets)

• Should be an advocate

Mentoring on Ethics and Responsible Conduct of Research

• Can occur through example, impromptu counsel or exchange of thoughts and ideas (small group)

• Must monitor the supervision and training of young scientists to be sure they “get it” (large labs)

• Must adhere to value system of their institutions

Panel on Scientific Responsibility and Conduct of Research 1992

The Ethics of Mentoring

• Should not spend so much time working on mentor’s research that there is little time for their own

• Should not be pushed to do work towards a patent or mentor’s financial gain

• Should not have constraints on publication• Should not disengage or undermine or compete

Jonathan R. Cole The Research University in a Time of

Discontent

The Responsibility to Mentor Minorities and Women

•Whites and men traditionally more likely to have a mentor•Have been excluded from the socialization•Collaboration is key

Mary Frank Fox The Outer Circle, 1996

Responsibilities of Trainees

1. Identify career plans2. Locate prospective mentors3. Distinguish between supervisors and mentors4. Be clear about needs and expectations5. Keep learning about effective mentoring

Responsibilities of Mentors

1. Should be part of the definition of a scientist

2. Be available3. Allow for differences in personalities4. Let trainees make their own decisions5. Teach by words and example6. Keep learning about effective

mentoring

The Good Mentor

James B. Rowley

Supporting New Teachers May, 1999 Volume 56 Number 8 Pages 20-22

The Good Mentor1. The good mentor is committed to the

role of mentoring.2. The good mentor is accepting of the

beginning teacher.3. The good mentor is skilled at providing

instructional support.4. The good mentor is effective in

different interpersonal contexts.5. The good mentor is a model of

continuous learning.6. The good mentor communicates hope

and optimism.

The effects of the mentor on the academic career

Scientometrics Volume 7, Numbers 3-6, 255-80, 2005

The effects of the mentor on the academic career

•The influence of the mentor begins with collaboration.•Collaboration increases student’s productivity and academic placement .•Collaboration increases student’s later publications and citations.

Mentoring and Research Misconduct: An Analysis of ORI Closed Cases

David E. Wright, Jered B. Cornelison, and Sandra L. Titus Michigan State University

Mentoring/Misconduct

1. Literature on mentoring originated in 1980’s

2. In the 80’s, research misconduct came to national attention

3. USA research misconduct regulations took effect 1989-1991

Motion to Mentor

“ It is therefore incumbent on all scientists and scientific institutions to create and nurture a research environment that promotes high ethical standards, contributes to ongoing professional development, and preserves public confidence in the scientific enterprise.”

NAS, 2002

Mentoring is Highly Complex

•Develop technical competence•Develop critical thinking skills•Encourage intellectual initiative•Socialize advisees into the culture of their disciplines Margaret King “On the Right Track: A Manual for Research Mentors,” 2003

Mentoring is Highly Complex

• Articulating and modeling ethical norms of responsible and rigorous research including appropriate use of human and animal subjects

• Citing appropriate source material and prior publication

• Allocating authorship fairly in joint publications• Submission and review of publications ethically• Recognizing and avoiding conflicts of interest• Generation, recording and using data responsibly

Why Does Research Misconduct Occur?

Theories:

•Pressure for professional survival•Sociopathology: 1-2% of every profession•Ignorance of standards and ethical codes•Failure of mentoring/supervision of trainees

Did inadequate mentoring contribute to/fail to prevent misconduct?

What would constitute inadequate mentoring?

• Failure to review trainee raw data at regular intervals for reasons including:– Absentee mentor due to other academic

pressures– Mentor trust of the trainee

What would constitute inadequate mentoring?

• Failure to establish clear standards for:– Keeping lab books– Managing and retaining data– Authorship

What would constitute inadequate mentoring?

• Failure to adequately support trainee career development– Unsupportive work environment for

trainees– Undue pressure to produce results

quickly– Unreasonable expectations as to

productivity

Findings at Michigan State

• Trainees are more likely to be found guilty of misconduct if charged.

• The consequence of a finding of misconduct by a trainee is severe.

• Trainees from abroad, especially if English is a second language ,appear to be at increased risk.

Findings at Michigan State

• Trainees are more likely to commit misconduct when mentors are absent or unobservant.

• Misconduct is more likely to occur when the trainee reports feeling of “pressure” or “stress.”

Findings at Michigan State

• Misconduct is most likely to occur at “critical moments” in a trainee’s career– When a deadline looms– When results of an important earlier

experiment can’t be replicated – When trainee is preparing to leave the

lab for another position

Findings at Michigan State

When is misconduct discovered?Fail to reproduce results 35.7%Data missing 9.5%Fail to reproduce results and data missing 7.1%Witnessed or became suspicious 35.7%Not applicable 4.8%Can’t tell 7.1%

Findings at Michigan State

Did the mentor fail to review raw data, lab books, etc?

YES 52.3% NO 31.8% Can’t tell 15.97%

Mentoring More Challenging Today

• Large, Interdisciplinary Research Groups– The mentor may not know all the areas

of science and has to rely on others to teach and supervise trainees.

– The mentor may have to “farm out” to others part of the research which s/he cannot personally oversee.

Mentoring More Challenging

Technology – Driven Changes• The move to computer - stored research data

and smart laboratory instruments may have lessened the emphasis on individual trainee responsibility for keeping lab notebooks and other rigorous records.

• Computer – stored research data is comparatively easy to fabricate and to falsify.

• Computer –generated summary data and analysis often substituted for review instead of raw data in discussions between mentor and trainee.

Mentoring More Challenging

Technology – Driven Changes (Cont’d)• Whereas once trainees had to show

mentor raw data in the form of films to get authorization to take them to photography department for printing for reports, manuscripts and grant applications; now the trainees can do the same thing on desktop computers with programs like Photoshop.

• It is comparatively easy to fabricate and falsify images using these programs.

Michigan State Implications for Faculty and Institutions

• Standard procedures for review of trainee raw data at regular intervals and,

• Standard procedures for replication of key trainee experiment before submitting data, and

• Attentive supervision during periods of trainee stress……

Might have prevented many instances of misconduct.

“ A candle loses nothing of its light by lighting another candle”

James Keller

“ A civilization flourishes when people plant trees under whose shade they will never sit”

Greek proverbs

PANEL DISCUSSION

• Julie Freischlag, MD

• Justin McArthur, MBBS, MPH

• Robert Montgomery, MD, PhD

• Sheila Garrity, JD, MPH, MBA - Moderator