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APA Mentoring Network Seeks Volunteers

To help less-experienced psychiatrists get answers to their questions from veterans colleagues, APA has formed an online mentoring network.

The personal ad might read, "APA seeks psychiatrist-mentors—specialists or generalists—to impart their knowledge and experience to less-seasoned colleagues. Less-experienced psychiatrists eager to learn from veteran colleagues also encouraged to respond."

That is, if APA’s Division of Education, Minority, and National Affairs ever decided to turn to the personals to sign up members for its recently launched mentoring network.

An outgrowth of the two-year-old Women’s Mentoring Network, the new network is accessible on APA’s Web site at www.psych.org/members/mentor. At that site interested mentors can indicate a specialty or area in which they are willing to assist other members, and prospective mentees can search by location, gender, practice setting, and area of expertise for mentors who match their needs.

For initial contacts, prospective mentees have access only to a mentor’s name and e-mail address. An online form expedites this introductory contact. After that first communication, it is up to the mentor to provide his or her phone number and address to the mentee.

"If you think of the mentoring network like a dating service, you won’t be too far off," suggested Deborah Hales, M.D., division director. "Mentors sign up online and provide information about themselves and their interests. Mentees can then look over this information and request a mentor via computer."

Just like with traditional dating services, Hales said, "The ‘match’ might not be perfect, but it is an easy way to talk with someone senior by e-mail, especially if a mentee has some specific questions."

Psychiatrist J.T. Thornhill, M.D., one of the first to sign up to be a mentor, said he sees the decision to participate "as a natural outgrowth of [his] job as director of medical student education. Particularly in psychiatry," he told Psychiatric News, "students, members-in-training, and early career psychiatrists can benefit greatly from having contact with individuals who are willing to provide advice and counsel about a future career path."

As for personal rewards, Thornhill said, "You get the pleasure of forming new relationships with people, and I find as a mentor that I learn as much from the mentee as the mentee may learn from me."

At last month’s annual meeting in San Francisco, the mentoring network was able to expand its roster of prospective mentors and mentees by enrolling participants at its booth in the APA Resource Center.

To join the mentoring network, go to APA’s Web site at www.psych.org/members/mentor.

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