Thread by @drZoltanGyorgyi

I am sharing some points I raised on the kickoff event of @ESPNIC_Society's #mentorship programme.

(a practical🧵, not only for #YoungESPNIC or #PedsICU folks)

💪🦾 Having a mentor is a real opportunity, but the success of this relationship highly depends on the effort you put in as a mentee. 💪🏾💪🏻

Before the first meeting, take ⏳ & 🤔:
❓ Why did you join the program?
❓ Where are you professionally?
❓ Are you looking for general mentoring right now or rather need help in a specific domain?
❓ Do you respond best to gentle guidance or prefer something more structured?

So because you have completed the mental exercise☝🏻, you should be able to verbalize your vision about the purpose of the partnership before the first meeting.

+1️⃣ Be interested in your future mentor: googling them or reading their CV will definitely not hurt you. 😉

As with any relationship, you'll start with the fundamentals:
👥 Getting to know each other
👥 Building a safe and supportive atmosphere
🗣 Stories and conversation is all you need
🧐 Be curious about your mentor: like who mentored them and how it helped them🚀in their career.

As the relationship progresses, it will allow tackling more complex issues together. This is the best part of the mentoring relationship. 💯

⏲ Talk openly about how things are going and share what a successful 🎯 means to you and whether that has changed lately.

Now moving on to:

Pre-meeting tips (online version):
📆 Avoid days when you’re drained after work & post-call days, too
⏰ Dedicate your time & make sure you have no other commitments
📲 Remove all distraction from your environment
📡 You’re going to need a reliable internet connection.

Pre-meeting tips (face-to-face version):
📆 Avoid days when you’re tired
⏰ Dedicate your time & don't be in a rush
📲 Remove all distraction. Yes, your phone, too.
☕️ Someplace other than the hospital or the office can really make your meeting more relaxed.

On the actual meeting:
🏋🏻 Don’t expect to solve all issues at a time; take the most important one and dissect deep into it
👀 Get clarity and understanding; there will be language and technical barriers to communication
✔️ Summarize the meeting and agree on an action plan.

After meetings:
🤔 The keyword is ---reflect---: as in taking time to think again about the topics & consider the advice you received. It can be done whenever; all you need is to devote the time. 🕕

In between meetings:
📝 When something interesting or significant happens: make notes; believe me otherwise there is a good chance, you will just forget it🤯
🤔 Practice self-reflection: how do you feel about these events?
👥 Bring them up at your next meeting with your mentor.

And now to the pitfalls :
⚠️ Sharing your mentorship goals is essential & always make sure that you present a realistic picture of yourself.

⚠️ Generally speaking, one missed meeting can always happen - this is life 🤷🏻‍♂️. But more of them can break the workflow and possibly make your mentor disillusioned.

⚠️ I know there is a possibility that you haven’t been mentored for a long time.
👍🏻Just embrace that you are there to progress and trust your mentor; you will be fine.

⚠️ Outside your inner circle of closest family and friends, I don’t think it would be wise to share information about your mentoring relationship and/or your mentor.
🤝You can expect the same confidentiality in return.

⚠️ If something feels off,
📢 Reach out for help.

(In the @ESPNIC_Society program, it is either @anne_ramelet or me you can connect with.)

Future mentees, I hope you'll find this 🧵 useful.
🪢That being said, I do have goals with my mentor, but I won’t go too crazy about them because I will

@AnnaZanin_MD @ors_gaw @anne_ramelet @pamajanssen @SimonNadel @lyvonnetume @KateeBaptiste @jmenzies1 @AnitaCdeJong @HorvKlara @FraSperotto @LaCampo4 @MarcoDaverioMD @SofiTheDoctor

@Sarah_Mojarad @SapnaKmd @MiguelrrMD @lberto_Medina @Martin_Kneyber @MireiaYllia @mehrengise @Dr_Hari_Krishna