Are you ready to mentor?

Becoming a mentor in the veterinary world is both a personally and professionally rewarding experience. Mentors grow in their own professional skills through the teaching process and are exposed to new knowledge and skills by their mentees, while mentees receive vital information and support through the mentoring process.

Additionally, serving in a mentoring role has been shown to increase job satisfaction and opportunities for advancement. A solid track record of mentorship can help set your practice apart. Incorporating effective mentorship practices into your clinic’s culture is essential for success as a mentor and can benefit all parties involved—right down to your pet patients. 

Understanding mentorship  

According to the 2023 AAHA Mentoring Guidelines, mentoring is “a relationship in which someone invests personal knowledge, energy, and time to help another person’s professional development.” With the numerous types of mentoring relationships that exist, an individual can become a mentor at any stage of their career—even as a student.  

 Successful mentorship requires that the mentor and mentee have shared expectations, open communication, and are aware of individual goals for professional and personal development. And mentorship does not always require years of experience in a certain subject area. This is especially true in the case of peer mentorship, where individuals of equal experience levels mentor each other, or reverse mentorship, where a less experienced individual serves in the mentoring role.  

Although there are different types of mentorship, their key requirements remain the same.

Mutual trust and respect between mentor and mentee are essential for positive outcomes. This takes time to develop, but once formed, it allows the mentor and mentee to be open about their experiences, challenges, concerns, and achievements.

Cultivating trust requires individuals to be open about their personal preferences for communication and boundaries; it also requires them to share personal and cultural beliefs that may impact the relationship. Trust is, in part, maintained through strict confidentiality between mentor and mentee, with the exceptions of mental or physical health emergencies or public safety risk. A safe mentoring relationship pledge is provided in the AAHA Mentoring Toolkit and can be used to help establish these important components of the mentoring relationship. 

Essential skills and responsibilities of mentors 

The guidelines note that mentors need “sufficient knowledge, skills, and/or resources to provide support and facilitate growth for their mentee.” The exact type and level of knowledge, skills, and resources will vary depending on the specific type of mentoring relationship and individual goals. For instance, a mentor in an apprenticeship mentorship needs strong technical skills and the ability to teach those skills. In contrast, a mentor in a critical mentorship needs a larger knowledge and appreciation of how social identities influence individuals.  

An engaged and effective mentor must also have the time available to support the mentee in a way that meets the mentee’s individual needs. The type of mentoring relationship will dictate how frequently mentor meetings are held, how long they need to be, and the duration of mentorship. Before committing to a mentoring relationship, mentors should carefully evaluate the amount of time they can give to the mentee and determine if starting and maintaining a mentorship role is sustainable within the context of their personal and professional life and goals.   

Mentors and mentees share many responsibilities in the relationship, including maintaining open communication, celebrating successes, providing feedback, remaining open to receiving feedback, developing a mentoring action plan, and evaluating the mentoring relationship at regular intervals. In addition, mentors are responsible for creating an environment that is supportive of the mentee’s development, providing opportunities for both collaboration and independence, encouraging self-directed learning, and modeling specific skills or behaviors that are necessary for mentee success (e.g. setting boundaries, communication skills, and setting goals).  

Mentors should also be knowledgeable of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) principles and incorporate them into their mentorship practices. It is important to realize that mentors do not have to have all the answers on their own, and they should be able to recognize their personal limitations. Knowing who to contact to learn more about a particular issue or where to send your mentee for support is also an important part of being a strong mentor.  

Getting started 

Some mentoring relationships start informally and organically, with two individuals finding common ground and investing time into a mentor/mentee relationship. Others will begin more formally, either in a clinic setting when a less experienced individual is hired or outside of the clinic when a prospective mentee reaches out. In other cases, a mentor may seek out a mentee by enrolling in a formal mentorship program or hiring an early career veterinarian into the clinic.  

 Regardless of who proposes starting a mentorship relationship, it is important that both individuals consider if it is a good fit and take the time to set expectations, goals, and create an action plan. Mentors should also evaluate their skills and availability to ensure they can meet the needs of the mentee. AAHA’s Mentoring Toolkit includes forms that can be used to set expectations and goals before mentorship starts.  

For mentors who want to enhance their skills prior to or during a mentoring relationship, the Toolkit provides numerous additional resources to support mentor skill development. Additionally, AAHA offers a one-hour, RACE-approved course for veterinary professionals. 

This article is part of our Stay, Please series, which focuses on providing resources (as identified in our Stay, Please retention study) to retain the 30% of all veterinary professionals considering leaving their clinical practice. Here at AAHA, we believe you were made for this work, and we’re committed to making clinical practice a sustainable career choice for every member of the team. 

Photo credit: © AAHA/Mickey Thomas 

Disclaimer: The views expressed, and topics discussed, in any NEWStat column or article are intended to inform, educate, or entertain, and do not represent an official position by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) or its Board of Directors.