Spotlight on mentoring
What is mentoring?
Traditionally, mentoring was considered a form of patronage,
with a more experienced person passing on their wisdom and
guiding a less experienced person. This was my understanding
when I joined the Trainee Committee and I wasn’t sure it was
relevant for me; things were going well. However, they say
‘Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it’, and there were numerous
enthusiasts: Gordon French, Robert Self and Nancy Redfern all
offered mentoring opportunities. So I had a go.
It was more structured than I anticipated, there was no advice
or opinion offered, just a really good way of helping me
understand my dilemma, identifying my own solutions and
planning how to achieve this.
Developmental mentoring has
nothing to do with seniority and clinical expertise; the mentor
needs to have the skills and qualities to walk alongside the
mentee as they unpick a dilemma or opportunity, supporting
them to achieve their full potential.
This requires a trained
mentor using a framework to underpin the conversation.
Gerard Egan’s ‘The skilled helper’ is one such framework, first
published in 1982 and revised and developed over 30 years [1].
How might mentoring be useful to you?
I decided to train as a mentor. During my training, I was
mentored by fellow course participants as we learned to
use the framework. Not only do I find the active listening
and communication skills that I have developed as a mentor
useful in both my personal and working lives, but the
process of being mentored helped me clarify some of my life
priorities. Interestingly, where I have ended up in mentoring
conversations, both as mentee and mentor, is not always where
I expected to be. A few hours spent exploring one’s thoughts
and feelings can help one re-frame the situation, and draw on
past experiences that might be of use presently. For me, it’s an
efficient way of sorting out a situation, rather than letting it run
around in the back of my mind.
COVID-19 and the anaesthetic trainee
It would be remiss of me to discuss opportunities and
challenges of current training without mentioning COVID-19.
There have been considerable challenges: lost elective training;
re-deployment to ICU; postponed rotations and exams; and
changes to ST3 recruitment and CCT dates, to name but a
few. Trainees have lost control of their working environments
and career plans, which can be very de-stabilising. The focus
on COVID-19 means there has been little time for trainees to
reflect and plan their career strategically. As the dust settles a
little, it is important that we assist trainees to identify, and make
the most of, new opportunities that now present themselves.
Exploring mentoring with the Association
The Association of Anaesthetists has long been supportive of
mentoring, with Nancy Redfern and Gordon French running
mentor development courses for 25 years. The Association
facilitates a national mentoring network that is free to members,
putting together prospective mentees with trained mentors,
and run taster sessions at major conferences. It seems likely,
in the current climate, that sessions will take place via video
conference. Whilst this is not the ideal format, I have conducted
several successful sessions this way since COVID has invaded
our lives.
If you feel you would like to explore the process and spend some ‘you’ time, focussing on ideas, priorities, personal resources and future planning, check out the
Association's mentoring scheme and book
a session.
My thanks to Nancy Redfern for assistance with this article.
Karen Stacey
Elected member of the Trainee Committee,
Association of
Anaesthetists
Locum Consultant Anaesthetist
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
Twitter: @karenstacey82
Reference
- Egan G. The skilled helper, 10th edition. Belmont, USA: Brookes/
Cole Cengage Learning, 2013.