Mentoring July 2011

1. MentoringJuly 2011 Jeanne Marrazzo, MD, MPH Center for AIDS & STD Seattle STD/HIV Prevention Training Center jmm2@uw.edu University of Washington Survival Skills for the Research Years

2. Discussion • Definitions • What is a mentor? What isn’t? • Goals of the relationship • Responsibilities • At minimum, and beyond (Nature June 2007) • Choices • How should you choose a mentor? • What does a mentor look for in candidates?

3. Definitions • Homer: “a wise and trusted counselor” • Responsible for intellectual, professional, and personal development • An advisor may or may not be a mentor • You may have more than one mentor • Especially important in fields with inter-disciplinary bent • Increasingly important in tight funding era

4. Goal: Help Trainees Mature to Independence Scientific Personal

5. Goal: Help Trainees Mature to Independence • Scientific • Become knowledgeable about the field—read the literature • Think critically • Identify and develop good questions • Critically evaluate data and approaches • Become confident enough to argue with me • Be creative: head in clouds, feet on ground • Focus: be able to go from a wild idea to test that idea; develop hypotheses, perform experiments, and get funding to do it

6. Goal: Help Trainees Mature to Independence • Personal • Become confident based on self-recognition of their own excellence • Have a clear ethical framework for life and for research • Recognize that there is life beyond work

7. Responsibilities of the Mentor • Be available • Regular contact: check-in, review • Project status • Progress toward career plan • Skill development: thinking process, practice talks, review writing • May need to be flexible as to time/place! • Provide opportunities, networking • Requires balancing opportunism with focus • Promote visibility, responsibly and realistically • Anticipate meetings, funding announcements • Be patient

8. What Makes a Great Mentor? • A commitment to mentor for life • Personal characteristics • Enthusiasm: infectious, sustaining • Sensitivity: especially when things inevitably go wrong • Be attentive to underlying concerns; compassion • Appreciate individual differences • Not all take the same path or want the same goal

9. What Makes a Great Mentor? • Personal characteristics • Respect: no cheap labor • Unselfishness: give credit when due • Supporting, inspiring those beyond one’s own team; building communities • Teaching & communication • Develop skills, which generally don’t come naturally

10. What Makes a Great Mentor? • Availability: the open door is KEY • Inspiration, optimism: big picture view • Balance direction & self-direction: micromanagement vs. “free-range” fellow

11. What Makes a Great Mentor? • Question and listen • Be widely read & receptive to new ideas • Ensure payoff in at least one big project! • Encourage life outside work • Celebrate success Fredricks lab enjoying the fruits of anaerobic metabolism, 2009

12. Responsibilities of the Trainee • Set goals • Take initiative • Be committed • Available • Prepared • Persistent • Consistent • Honest • Cultivate feedback, and use it • Pay attention to writing critiques: style, content, jargon use • Model slides after those you find clear, appealing

13. “There are two types of speakers: those that are nervous, and those that are liars.” Mark Twain

14. HOW NOT TO MAKE A SLIDE • I really really like to have lots of long sentences on my slides because it makes it more fun to read while I’m standing on the stage and I also don’t have to think. • It takes less time to make the slides if I put lots of words on one slide. That way I don’t have to push the button so often while I’m giving my talk. • Besides, if I put a lot of words on the slide then the font doesn’t have to be so big and it won’t keep people awake. • I think it is most fun to emphasize certain text by using a different font such as italics or by underlining. Looking at many slides with the same font is really really boring.

15. Choice: What Should You Consider? • Area of interest • Look at CV, publications • Research reputation • Grant support • Team • Mentoring reputation • Talk to former and current trainees • Where are they now? • Time commitment & availability • Lifestyle

16. Choice: What Do I Consider? • Student potential • Enthusiasm: Are they alert? Will they be passionate about an area I care about? • Inquisitiveness: Do they ask questions? • Preparation: Do they have an idea of what I do? Have they read any papers from our group? Has this provoked ideas? • Solid academic background • Work ethic • My issues • Space, money and time to mentor well • Fit with the team

17. Summary • Find a mentor whom you respect and whose research interests excite you • Find a way to really like what you do, and to communicate that • Be receptive to all feedback,and incorporate it going forward • Work hard, play hard, and make a contribution to your field!

18. Acknowledgments • Ned Hook, UAB • Sheila Lukehart, UW

19. References • Nature’s Guide for Mentors. Nature 2007;447:791-7 • National Academy of Science, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine. Adviser, Teacher, Role Model, Friend: On Being a Mentor to Students in Science and Engineering. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1997