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Life as a doctor can be
stressful, and the increasing intensity of work may
leave little time to reflect on and discuss concerns
as they arise. Given the obvious benefits of
coaching and mentoring, it is not surprising that a
number of reports, papers and Royal Colleges have
recommended improved access to coaching and
mentoring for doctors, with similar arguments
applying to dentists. |
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The guidance paper ‘Mentoring for Doctors’
(Department of Health, 2004) reported on the views
of a number of doctors who had undergone mentoring
and concluded that the process had real benefits for
both mentees and their mentors. Mentees commented on
improved reflection skills, support for dealing with
specific problems, strategies for coping with change
or crisis in their professional lives, improved self
confidence and more job satisfaction.
Whilst coaching tends to be
short-term process generally task orientated,
mentoring is usually a longer term holistic
relationship. However, there is a great deal of
overlap in the underlying principles and the skills
of coaching and mentoring. This overlap is
recognised by the European Mentoring and Coaching
Council (www.emccouncil.org)
who have recommended that the inclusive term of
“coaching/mentoring” should be used.
Both coaching and mentoring are vastly different
from other supportive or developmental roles, such
as patronage, therapy, counselling, appraising,
educational supervision, line management or
teaching.
A useful definition is “To help and support people
to manage their own learning in order to maximize
their potential, develop their skills, improve their
performance, and become the person they want to be.”
(Parsloe, 1992)
In many industries coaching and mentoring are well
established in the organisational culture, with
benefits for the employer by improved productivity
and the employee in terms of job satisfaction. A
review of the literature on the subject (Garvey B,
Garrett-Harris R, 2005) concluded that the main
advantages for those being mentored were:
• Improved performance and productivity
• Career opportunity and advancement
• Improved knowledge and skills
• Greater confidence and wellbeing
These benefits have been reported in studies of
mentoring and coaching in medicine. Mentoring as an
undergraduate and as a trainee helped with
individuals’ career choice and satisfaction (Ramanan
et al 2006). An analysis of six NHS mentoring
schemes across England identified three overarching
areas of benefit: professional practice, personal
well-being and development. Benefits appeared to go
beyond a doctor’s professional role to cross the
personal-professional interface (Steven et al,
2008).
Dr Bickerton is an experienced mentor for the South
Western Deanery and a proven motivator. He is able
to mentor a small number of doctors for a prolonged
period to guide, support and help to develop their
desired life projectory. To discuss mentoring please
contact him on
david@beaconpeninsula.org.uk
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