Establishing a mentoring relationship – ways in

It may be helpful to find out from the mentee:

• ˜  Are any of the areas below (or from the wheel of life) of prime importance to you, or shall we make a general start?
• ˜  (if the latter), which area shall we start with (and what order shall we proceed in)?
• ˜  Are any areas out of bounds?
• ˜  Are there areas which don’t seem relevant to you at this stage (but which you might want to include as we go on?)

We have different areas to explore:

• Professional self
• Future plans 
• Future hopes
• Educational experience
• Social self

• Personal self

Some possible ways into these areas:

Professional self

• Why medicine?
• Tell me about your role in your department – what role do you see yourself undertaking?
• What role do you enjoy most?
• What do you feel about medicine now?
• Can you describe the most difficult incident/event in your department in the last six months?
• What was the response? (what happened as a result?)

Future hopes

• Where do you want to be in 5 years’ time?
• Are you on course for achieving this?
• What do you identify as your personal strengths?
• Can we identify which forces will hinder your future plans?
• Which forces will act positively on future plans?
• What do you see as your greatest achievements?

Social self

• How do you spend your time when you are not working?
• How would your best friend describe you?
• What do you gain from your social interests and activities?
• Do you feel you actively make time for outside interests – or simply use what time is left over after work commitments are fulfilled?
• What do you look for in a relationship with friends?

Personal self

• Tell me about the people who most influenced your formative years
• What characterises your own upbringing?
• What sort of person would you describe yourself as being?
• What events/circumstances do you find most stressful?
• To whom do you turn for support?
• To whom do you offer support?

Educational experience

• What has been your most enjoyable educational experience?
• Why was it enjoyable?
• Can you give me an example of a negative learning event?
• What effect might his have had on you?
• What is your preferred style of learning?
• What are a) your strengths in learning and b) your limitations in learning?
• In what areas would you like to increase your skills and knowledge?

Future plans

• Define three objectives for your professional development
• Can we clarify learning needs related to these objectives?
• What would you see as being obstacles to your professional development?
• What would you see as our future working agenda?
• Are there other areas of discussion you would like to develop, or return to?

Lisa Baxter/Jo Hennessey 2006