Mentoring Expectations

An important element of the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) program is the formative relationship established between you and your mentors.

This relationship forms the basis for your clinical research development, and your mentor is your primary source of formal and informal acculturation as an independent investigator. Mentors also play a critical role in helping you identify and pursue appropriate education, training and other career development goals.

Agreement

As with any relationship, scholar-mentor relationships are not immune to conflicts. To assist BIRCWH scholars and mentors in defining expectations and minimizing miscommunications that can lead to conflicts, you and your mentor are required to complete and submit the Initial Mentoring Agreement — Expectations for the Mentoring Relationship form (PDF).

This agreement is designed to assist you and your mentor in establishing expectations for your relationship and provoke discussion in areas critical for your development.

Mentoring resources

Additional online resources and in-person workshops are available to Mayo Clinic staff and students to build interpersonal, professional and mentoring skills. Visit the Faculty Development page within the Office of Applied Scholarship and Education Science (must be logged in to the Mayo Clinic network) for more information.

HR Connect offers more resources on general mentorship. Visit HR Connect (must be logged in to the Mayo Clinic network) and search with the term "mentoring."