We are excited to announce the launch of the Washington State Radiological Society Mentorship Program. The goal of the program is to provide valuable networking and educational opportunities to WSRS trainee members across Washington state. The mentors will get the satisfaction of helping early career peers to navigate the industry.
Please take a moment to review the program overview below. If you are interested in volunteering to be a mentor, contact us at admin@wsrs.org. We have a list of member trainees who are eager to connect with mentors!
Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.
Program Description
The WSRS Mentorship Program is one of the strategies that the organization uses to achieve its mission to provide networking and educational opportunities to its RFS members. The program establishes one-to-one collaborative relationships between residents and fellows wishing to enhance their leadership skills and practicing radiologists looking to contribute to radiologists in training.
The program itself seeks to connect mentees with an appropriate mentor, as well as to provide a framework for the collaboration. This collaboration is expected to last 12 months with a half-hour contact every 12 weeks or as frequently as each match sees fit. Note that telephone calls or video conferencing sessions are perfectly acceptable means to connect. At the end of the engagement, both participants will be released to work with other mentors/mentees – though, of course, one of the points of this program is to build networks that last throughout one’s career.
Participants start by submitting a Mentorship Program Application specifying if they would like to be either a mentor or mentee. The program coordinators – typically Resident and Fellows Section (RFS) leadership with assistance as needed from WSRS board members – compiles the information and connects prospective mentors with a mentee. From there, both parties meet on a regular basis to discuss whatever topics both parties mutually agree to discuss.
Mentors
A mentor is practicing radiologist who gets satisfaction from helping less experienced peers navigate the industry. The mentor’s job is to assist their mentee in addressing career issues, such as providing guidance on how to approach major professional decisions, giving education around a concept they have yet to encounter, or simply acting as a sounding board to provide a different point of view. There are no well-defined rules for what a mentor must cover because each collaboration is different, and the content of the discussions may change from meeting to meeting.
Mentors need to:
- Serve as a role model
- Share experiences as a practicing radiologist
- Provide career guidance
- Assist the mentee in setting professional goals and develop the skills needed to reach them
- Generate motivation and support
- Assist the mentee with networking
- Be objective and independent
Mentees
A mentee is an active WSRS RFS member who feels that she or he could benefit from the one-on-one attention and guidance that a mentor would provide. The mentee’s job is to bring issues to the mentor for discussion; the mentor will provide direct feedback and assistance based on his or her own professional history. This is an important point: the mentee is ultimately the one who establishes the content for the meeting. The mentor’s job is to provide guidance.
All mentees must be active members with WSRS. In addition, mentees need to:
- Keep appointments with your mentor
- Learn as much as possible
- Permit your mentor to make recommendations regarding professional goals and objectives
- Be open to feedback
- Come to each mentoring session prepared with items to discuss including areas where you need your mentor’s help
Program Framework
The framework for how mentors and mentees work together is just a suggestion – if this framework doesn’t work well for the parties, then they may change it as needed. For example, if the meeting frequency expectation is too much, they can elect to meet less often. The important thing, however, is that both parties need to agree on what that new framework should look like.