The best mentors listen closely, help to set goals and have useful networks.
Mutual respect, clear expectations, personal connections and shared values are key for healthy mentoring, finds a study in Academic Medicine (S. E. Straus et al. Academic Med. http://doi.org/jzc; 2012). Interviews with 54 medical-school faculty members at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and the University of Toronto in Canada showed that relationships fail because of poor communication, personality clashes or lack of mentoring experience. The best mentors are trustworthy, listen well, help to set goals and have accessible networks. Co-author Mitchell Feldman, a professor of medicine at UCSF, says that trainees should set agendas for mentoring sessions and update their own development plans.
Related links
Related links
Related links in Nature Research
A better deal for postdocs and their mentors?
Blogpost: Philip Campbell on Nature 2012 mentoring awards
Related external links
Characteristics of Successful and Failed Mentoring Relationships
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mentoring analysed. Nature 492, 459 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nj7429-459b
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nj7429-459b