Building Our Future by Mentoring One Another (FR433)

Abstract

•Identify the multiple areas in which mentoring can play a role in the development of hospice and palliative medicine.•Differentiate among the roles that mentors, sponsors and coaches can play in professional, team and program development.•Describe how individuals can access mentors and the mutual benefits that mentors and mentees can derive from a mentor-mentee relationship. The field of palliative care is taking traction in mainstream medicine, with a growing role to play in patient care. Critical to narrowing the widening gap between workforce shortage and projected demand for hospice and palliative medicine providers is expanded access to and engagement in education and training. There are many challenges to meeting the educational needs of learners, including the diversity of professional backgrounds and experience of those involved, relative youth of the field, multiplicity of career paths prior to engaging in hospice and palliative medicine, varied care settings and population needs, function as an effective team member, cultural differences and the intricacies of teaching the human dimension of care. Despite the broad range and variation of these challenges, they all relate to individuals—those who led the way, those currently at the forefront and the myriad doing our daily work. In this interactive session, we will take a broad look at the role of mentoring in the development of our field. The panelists, two medical oncologists, a geriatrician and a psychiatrist, all experienced palliative care clinicians, will start with a discussion of the different roles that mentors, coaches and sponsors play in professional, team and program development. Panelists, who combined have a broad mentorship experience in clinical care, program development, research, public policy and resiliency, will offer their perspectives on what makes a good mentor-mentee relationship, mutual benefits of mentoring for the mentor and mentee and how to “get the most” from your relationship. There will be ample time for discussion among session participants and panel members. By the end of the session, it is anticipated that participants will have an improved understanding of the role that mentorship can play in professional development, ways to access local and distant mentors and the mutual benefits of mentoring.