5 Reasons Why You Need A Mentor
Your comprehensive guide to mentorship in medical school
Hey there!
I feel so excited to bring you another article from My Therapy Notes.
Today, I’ll be sharing with you on the benefits of mentorship for you as a medical student.
No doubt, this is one of the most important success principles of medical school.
Understanding the benefits of mentorship as a medical student, would save you about 75% of the psychological and emotional stress that comes with studying.
Alright. Without much talk, let's dive right in!
What exactly is mentorship anyway?
Err… pardon me, I've got a long definition here…
Mentorship is a professional, working alliance in which individuals work together over time to support the personal and professional growth, development, and success of the relational partners through the provision of career and psychosocial support.1
Phew!
That was a very lengthy one.
I think it would help if you go over that definition one more time.
In simple terms, it means a mentor provides you with just as much support as you’ll need to pull through.
Who doesn't want that kind of help!
Let’s not run ahead of ourselves. But really, what do you stand to gain by finding a suitable mentor for yourself in med school?
(1) Someone Who Understands Your Pain
A key defining feature of mentors is that they’re usually senior colleagues.
Most times, what this means is that, your mentor is very likely to have gone through the same challenges that you would often encounter as a medical student.
This way, your mentor has a first hand understanding of the pain and tough situations that you go through.
Trust me, you always want to feel like you're understood by someone, especially when you're going through the rough winds of med school.
(2) Someone Who Gives You Practical Guidance
You probably already guessed this one.
Your mentor's wealth of experience with the ups and downs of med school, puts them in a good position to give you practical advice and guidance.
Whether it’s regarding what textbook to read or how to study course materials...
A priceless way to guarantee your excellent performance is to heed the wise counsel of your mentor.
Another key takeaway for you here is to stay humble!
To the next one.
(3) Your Source of Motivation and Encouragement
Everyone needs that one person in their lives who cheers them on when they're down.
Your mentor can be one of those persons for you.
You know, med school has a lot of down times in it.
Trust me, I'm not trying to scare you.
I'm just trying to help you understand that stuff can get overwhelming.
Mentors serve as great source of encouragement during those down times.
Most of the time, they serve as a motivation to remind you that if they could pull through, you can also do the same and much more.
(4) Someone Who Helps You Discover What Works For You
Discovering what works for you is very crucial if you'll succeed in medical school.
Life gets extremely difficult for those who try to copy what works for other people, without finding out what works for them instead!
It's not an easy task to discover what works for you.
It takes time.
It could even take several trials and error before you arrive at the real thing.
However, having a mentor helps to shorten the process of discovering the right study strategy for you.
Your mentor shows you how they were able to discover their working study strategy and guides you to discover yours as well.
(5) Someone Who Is Always There For You!
You know, there's a kind of feeling you get when you know there's someone who's always got your back?
Talk about someone you can always talk to when you're not having things the right way.
Your mentor cares about your success and academic welfare.
They're usually willing to go out of their way to create time for you, discuss with you, reason out things with you and many times, also share in your joyful moments and sad moments too!
So yeah, we've come this far!
In the next article, I'll be sharing with you on how to find the right mentor for yourself.
Trust me, you don't want to miss it.
I'm glad you made it to this point. Till next week!
Yours sincerely,
Marvelous
The Jesus Therapist.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK552775/