Mentor Meeting--Questions to Ask?

[dujingshu]

I signed up for a mentorship program at my school that randomly placed us with faculty members interested in being mentors. The physician I am matched with seems great, but I am not sure how much we will have in common in terms of how well my career goals match up with her professional accomplishments (although that could change, as I am an M1). Because of the mismatch, I'm not sure what my goals of this mentorship program could be or what kind of questions I could ask beyond the simple ones (how did you end up in your specialty, etc). I'm also already involved in research and don't think I have time to get involved in any more projects, so a research-mentor relationship isn't likely.

I don't want to sound like an idiot when I meet with her. Does anyone have any ideas for questions I could ask/things we could discuss? Also, can anyone speak more broadly to the value of having a (potential) mentor in a field I'm not so interested in? What should I try to get out of this mentorship program?

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[Tenk]

Having a mentor outside your field of interest is great if you have something in common. One of my “mentors” in med school was a trauma surgeon attending who I would see at the gym and lift with. We had a lot of discussions because at the time I was between emergency medicine and surgery. Then one day he looked at me and said: “you know, if I could do it all over I’d pick EM. Don’t get me wrong, I love being a surgeon, but my family, I wish I could see them more.” His input helped seal that deal forever. You definitely want to have a mentor in your field of interest but that doesn’t mean you can’t have more than one person helping you shape your career.

Regarding your case: meet them and see if you click. If you don’t, keep looking. If you do, great!

 

[ceilingfan019]

I'm going into orthopaedics and my randomly selected mentor is in internal medicine.

She wanted to mentor medical students and signed up for the mentorship program. The time that we spend together is very low stress, and we often talk about non-medical school related topics such as sports, music, etc.

As an M1, these mentors are important because they help you with the foundation of being a physician: physical exam, talking to patients, writing a SOAP note, delivering bad news, handling difficult patients, etc.

Having a mentor in the field you want to go in is great, but you have plenty of time to find those mentors. Think of your selected mentor as someone you can trust to share difficulties that you experience throughout medical school such as burn out.

When you meet them, just talk about your background, interests, hobbies, goals, etc.