Looking forward and looking back, seems like shooting an arrow from 2 opposite sites. The arrows will rarely even near each other, unless they are carefully guided from both sides. Looking forward, we all start young, eager and willing, though lacking experience and practical applications of acquired knowledge and skills. Looking back, we all see a path that rarely is what it was thought to be, often offering satisfaction and sometimes making you counting the days to retirement…
The “master and apprentice” model, considered for ages as the most logical way to transfer knowledge and skills from one generation to the other lost its meaning following the ever-increasing speed of introducing new developments. For an increasing proportion of daily activities, the new generation largely surpasses the capabilities of the former generation, yet missing the experience to optimise its application in daily practice.
The step from “teacher” to mentor” entails a multitude of elements, as the duties of a teacher are often limited to presenting the most actual data, tools and skills, assisting the apprentice in acquiring the necessary knowledge and skills. A galaxy further is the relation mentor-mentee, in which the mentor guides the mentee, not unidirectional neither top down, aiming at transferring rather the deep understanding and handling around it then the knowledge and skills themselves. By framing all this in a much higher level that can be used in daily practice, both the health care providers and the patients will experience clear benefits. Successful mentorship can be defined as a successful development of both the mentee and the mentor, and knows no professional frontiers, as it spans a spectrum from basic clinical applications to philosophical approaches towards, for example, being seriously ill. If well organised, it will be also rather independent from physical distances, thanks to modern communication tools, provided that regular physical meetings are scheduled, for example at the occasion of congresses or courses. Pitfalls? Yes, for sure, but the risks can be limited by making clear agreements at the start of a mentorship trajectory, including expectations and timelines to frame the commitments … for both the mentee and the mentor!