The School of Medicine/OCTRI Lead Mentors program is now accepting applications for 2010-11 – deadline July 15. Don't delay! Apply now!   Montage 6-28-10 copy

Supporting on-campus mentoring and faculty development is an investment in faculty success. The School of Medicine/OCTRI Mentoring Program is designed to help individual faculty members get the career development assistance they need, provide resources to departments to enhance the quality and scope of their mentoring programs, and – through the ripple effect – expand the available pool of mentors within the institution.

The program has proven to be a good investment even in its first year. As the program embarks on its second year, faculty input is forming the basis of program upgrades to the two major program components.

The first – the individualized, self-directed component – is a series of seminars and workshops that provide an overview of key career development topics. This past year, this program component: 

• Launched a comprehensive faculty development and mentoring website.
• Conducted seven one-hour Career Perspectives sessions and six two-hour Mentor Skills Workshops September through May.
• Hosted more than 200 faculty, students and staff who attended at least one of these events, with faculty from 17 of 19 clinical departments and four of seven basic science departments registered for at least one event. The majority of attendees (40 percent to 100 percent per session) were women.
• Received favorable quality ratings for the majority of sessions.

The second component – the Lead Mentors Program:   

• Enrolled an inaugural cohort of 13 faculty as Lead Mentors.
• Conducted six in-depth sessions during six months covering topics such as "coaching through listening," "mentoring across differences," and "managing difficult conversations."
• Received an overall program rating of 4.0 on a five-point scale.

Based on faculty feedback, both program components will continue and will be enhanced by bringing national speakers to campus, providing more sessions specifically for basic science faculty, and – for the Lead Mentors Program – incorporating an explicit description of a mentoring project that will be undertaken in the faculty member's department. 

Join the ripple effect: apply now to be a Lead Mentor and learn more about this initiative. 

Pictured: Lead Mentors discuss the first year's program at a debrief lunch with Dean Richardson.