Mentoring – opening up the doors of opportunity Free

‘The delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your own image, but giving them the opportunity to create themselves.’ - Steven Spielberg

The online etymonline dictionary,¹ a source of information regarding the origins and development of words, defines the term mentor as a ‘wise adviser and intimate friend who is also a sage counsellor.’ It is thought to have originated from Homer’s The Odyssey, written in the 8th century BC. Over time, the role of the mentor has evolved from one of advisor and counsellor, and it is increasingly formalized within clinical academic practice owing to the purported (yet under evidenced) benefits.² Regardless of the lack of ‘hard outcome’ data, if you were to ask most clinical or clinical academics who inspire you, and whom you aspire to emulate or even eclipse, you will likely find that along the way they have sought out many mentors and cultivated multiple mentee-mentor relationships.

Why might they do this? Because, despite the limited evidence, the benefits are very much tangible:

Benefits of mentoring for the mentee include:

• Access to new opportunities

• Exposure to new techniques and development of new skills

• Encouragement/empowerment in one’s own development

• Identification and achievement of goals

Benefits of mentoring for the mentor include:

• Increased self-awareness

• Development of leadership and other skills (communication, empathy, networking)

• Exposure to new perspectives, ideas and skills

The benefits of our mentee (FF) – mentor (PM) relationship are substantial; collaboratively we have increased our volume of editorial outputs, the mentee has been exposed to a new area of research (artificial intelligence), and been extended the opportunity to become HeartBeat Section Editor in this journal. For the mentor, a more cautionary perspective on artificial intelligence has been introduced, and an enthusiastic volunteer who will drive the HeartBeat section of the journal, and whom can be called upon for last minute peer review and commentaries, has been added to the editorial team.

So what next for you? You don’t have to look far or work very hard to find a pool of ready and willing mentors. Multiple professional bodies, including the Association of Cardiovascular Nurses and Allied Professionals (ACNAP) have already done this for you: https://www.escardio.org/Sub-specialty-communities/Association-of-Cardiovascular-Nursing-&-Allied-Professions/Research-and-Publications/acnap-mentoring-programme. The next call for applicants to the mentoring programme opens in September, if you too would like to reap the benefits of mentorship like we have described above, then save the date and make sure to submit your application.

Author contributions

Faye Forsyth (Conceptualization, Writing—first draft, Writing—review & editing [MA BN MSc, PhD]), and Philip Moons (Writing—review & editing [PhD])

Data availability

No data were used in this publication.

References

Author notes