How to Find (and Keep) a Clinical Mentor

1. How to Find (and Keep) a Clinical Mentor Deborah Grady, MD, MPH Professor of Medicine Assoc. Dean for Clinical and Translational Research

2. Preview • What is mentoring? • Types of mentors • Types of clinicians • How to: • Find a mentor • Choose a mentor • Get the mentor to choose you • How to work effectively with a clinical mentor

3. What is Mentoring • Role model • Advisor and Counselor • Teacher • Advocate and Protector

4. Types of Mentor • Primary Mentor • All the roles possible • Co-Mentor • Some of the primary mentor roles • Career Mentor • Helps achieve career success • Research Advisor • Helps with a defined project(s)

5. Types of Clinicians at UCSF • Clinician/educator – patient care plus teaching • Clinical researcher – patient care plus research in humans • Expert on the disease • Expert on clinical research methods • Usually knowledgeable about mechanisms • Should have access to data (phenotypes, biospecimens, imaging, etc)

6. Finding a Mentor: the Three C’s Competence • Professional and interpersonal skills, knowledge and experience Confidence • Shares network, shares credit Commitment • Invests time, energy to mentoring

7. How to Find a Mentor? • Faculty met at meetings, symposia, etc. • Recommendation of program director, lab director, etc. • Authors of relevant journal articles • CTSI Profiles http://profiles.ucsf.edu/Search.aspx • Search by disease • Search by mechanism • Google disease or mechanism plus UCSF

8. CTSI Profiles • Go to CTSI homepage • Choose CTSI Profiles • Search on mechanism • Protein kinase C • Search publications by faculty matches • Search faculty Profile

9. Choosing a Mentor • Interview potential mentors • Ask about time, commitment, meetings • Prior mentees, problems, issues • Supervision style (micro, macro) • Check the mentor’s record (CV) • Prior mentees, current positions • Publications with mentees as first-author • Robust grant support and publication record • Discuss with other faculty, prior mentees and fellows

10. How to Get the Mentor to Choose You • Take the initiative • Describe your expertise and what you might contribute • Focus on your own interests and questions • Set clear goals and timelines • Keep up your CV, IDP

11. Working with a Clinical Mentor • Will typically be a research advisor, not primary or co-mentor • Know a little about clinical research • Read 1st few chapters of Designing Clinical Research • Develop one or more research questions predictor/biomarker… disease/condition… population • Focus on projects that: • Will result in a presentation and/or publication • Make the most of collaboration between laboratory-based and clinical researchers • Clarify expectations

12. Mentoring Meeting Checklist • Provide adequate time for collaboration • Regularly scheduled meetings • Informal discussions, email • Provide materials (protocol, outline of manuscript, etc.) prior to meeting • Complete meeting log/notes • Revise/clarify short and long-term goals and timelines

13. Good Mentoring • Increases interest in academic careers • Promotes career satisfaction • better negotiating skills • access to unwritten rules • avoids inefficient “trial and error” • Improves success (promotion, recognition, impact on clinical care and public health) • Enhances productivity (publications, funding) • Promote translational research?

14. Why be a Mentor? • Opportunities for learning from mentee • Opportunities for collaboration • Personal and professional growth • Recognition (awards) • Advancement and promotion • FUN!

15. What may you learn/get from a mentor • Clinical Mentors • Unmet clinical needs and current treatment paradigms • Details of a disease and state-of-the-art research • Clinical research methods • Access to clinical data • Access to tissue samples • Industry Mentors • Unmet clinical needs • Market and business considerations • Product development process • Academia-industry collaborations • Career options in industry

16. Pilot Mentorship Program • Pilot will include ~ 6 current GEMS students • CTSI will work individually with these students to help define objectives and identify potential mentors • CTSI will facilitate initial contact with mentors • CTSI will monitor the progress of the mentorship program over time

17. Next Steps • Provide us with your name and email address if you are interested in a clinical/industry mentor • CTSI will send you an application form to fill out • CTSI will work with GEMS leadership to select the pilot group • In the application, we will ask you for your objectives and potential mentor names, but will work with you to refine both • Speak about your interest in participating in this program with your advisor • CTSI will do initial reach-out to mentors

18. Speaking with your research advisor • Speak to your advisor early to avoid ‘surprises’ • Advisors may already have collaborators whose research is complementary to yours • Think through the reasons for your interest in a clinical/industry mentor • Exposure to clinical issues or to product development process • Education • Your interest in translational science and in impacting clinical outcomes • Access to samples • Potential for a joint research project • Have an estimate of time you’d like to spend away from lab and emphasize commitment to your research project

19. CTSI Contacts • Irina Gitlin, PhD Sr. Program Manager, Early Translational Research irina.gitlin@ucsf.edu • June Lee, MD Director, Early Translational Research june.lee@ucsf.edu • Deborah Grady, MD Co-Director, CTSI; Director, Clinical & Translational Science Training deborah.grady@ucsf.edu