Welcome to the mentoring section. This is an area being developed by the Committee of Anaesthetists in Training

 

The mentoring scheme is a new initiative to CAI, though mentoring is not a new concept. It has been widely used in industry, and has been shown to promote employee wellbeing, enthusiasm and productivity.

 

Lets get rid of a few misconceptions right away. Mentoring is an umbrella term and means a host of different things to different people.

Mentoring IS NOT career advice

Mentoring IS NOT crisis intervention

And it is most definitely not someone saying to you “ now what you need to do is  blah blah blah”

 

So what do we mean by mentoring?

In a nut shell we use the term mentoring to mean a listening learning relationship between the mentor and the mentee.

 

Yes it might sound a bit wooly and touchy feely, but mentoring is more than just a chat.

 

The mentee has an item they are stuck on, this could be a challenge, a dilemma, a problem, an opportunity. The mentor acts as a guide to ACTIVELY listen, help the mentee explore new perspectives, and then develop an action plan.

The mentee brings the expertise on themselves, and the mentor brings the expertise of the specific framework we use.

Its called Egans Skilled Helper, and can be viewed here.

 

STAGE 1	STAGE 2	STAGE 3
Current scenario	Preferred scenario	Action strategies
1 a) Telling the story	2 a) New possibilities	3 a) Possible actions
1 b) Developing new prespectives	2 b) Change agenda	3 b) Best fit strategies
1 c) Focusing on value point	2 c) Checking committment	3 c) Plan

 

What are the benefits of being mentored?

Clearly we think mentoring is really useful.

It’s a way of approaching and tackling issues, challenges, and opportunities.

It can help move a person from being in a place in their head where they feel totally stuck, to a much more positive, cheerful and peaceful headspace.

It can help us maximize an opportunity.

It can help bring clarity to a situation, and help to tease out the item that is actually bugging you.

If you like the framework and feel it works for you, you can then apply bits of it to other areas of your life.

It helps communication.

 

Who else uses mentoring?

Mentoring is a tool used by many different industries to great effect, (Computers, Financial institutions)

The GMC stipulate that a doctor should consider mentoring when they are changing to a new job.

 

Who are the mentors and what training have they? 

As we roll out our scheme we have but two mentors, David Moore and Aoife Quinn.  As our scheme grows and develops we hope to add to this.

Mentors have done the AAGBI mentoring course, and attend refresher days.

 

Talking to someone in College about an issue? I’m dubious surely this goes on a record??

Our mentoring scheme is confidential. We don’t report back to the College, your current or future hospital or your tutor. We don’t discuss what you have told us. We will not ask you about it outside the mentoring session. We don’t keep notes. We understand that a mentee may feel very vulnerable, particularly at the outset, and we absolutely respect your right to privacy, and that what is said in a mentoring session is confidential.

 

But, and yes there is always a but…… our practice is governed by  the Irish Medical Council Guidelines.  So if for example a person divulged information indicating a potential risk for patients, we would of course have to take further steps to ensure patients were protected. In the first instance, the mentee would decide the steps and the timescale. The mentor may be obliged to check that such steps had been undertaken.

 

Ok, I’m in. How do I setup a session?

Please email us at mentor@coa.ie and we will be in touch about arranging a session

 

We do have a few more documents that you might find interesting to read…

Code of practice

CAT mentoring policy document.

 

I don’t think my issue is right for mentoring

There are not right or wrong things to bring to a mentoring session.

This is an opt in process. It’s totally voluntary. If you have an issue and don’t want to be mentored that’s absolutely fine. Other avenues may work better for you. Of course you could always arrange a once off mentor taster session to check and see if what we offer would be of use to you.

 

We do have a list of resources that might be of use for a range of issues. You can email us to access this, or another good resource is the AAGBI website. http://www.aagbi.org/professionals/welfare/welfare-schemes

 

I would like to be mentored but not via the College

The AAGBI run a mentoring service.  But be warned the two AAGBI mentors are the same as the College mentors. There are a few AAGBI mentors practicing in Northern Ireland also.

 

I would like to become a mentor…

Brilliant, thank you, the more the merrier.

Email Aoife at aoiquinn@gmail.com to discuss things further. 

And check out the AAGBI website about the training course.