When I think of the word “mentorship”, the first thought that comes to mind is “community”. That is exactly what I wanted as an undergraduate– a supportive community. During my first year of college, I was not aware of what being a mentor or mentee meant to me. I heard of “mentorship” being thrown around by scholars, but I never understood the significance. It was not until my second semester of my freshman year that I was introduced to a program at my university. It was called Native SOAR. Its full name was Native Student Outreach Access, and Resiliency. I served as a mentor to Native American high school students. In return, I was mentored by an indigenous graduate student. At first, I was a little nervous going into it because I never saw myself as a leader, but the cohort I was affiliated with reassured me that I belonged. Throughout the semester in this program, I learned how to communicate well to others and how to hold myself accountable. I matured and learned how to be vulnerable and cultivate these vulnerabilities into strengths. If you have an opportunity to be a mentor or seek mentorship, I would highly recommend it. 

With that said, I know that finding a mentor can be difficult, especially going the non-traditional route to medicine. At least that is how it first felt with me. Throughout my undergrad, I had a handful of mentors and I found that very helpful and I feel it is one of reasons why I graduated from college. However, as I landed my first job straight from undergrad, I lost a few of those connections over the years. So, when I decided to go back to pursue medicine, I found it a little hard to make new connections. A few concerns were raised about why I decided to apply to medical school, especially after working three years in a different industry. I knew that I had to do some internal reflection and contemplate this serious decision. When I finally found the words to express my devotion, I decided to reach out to one mentor and asked if they knew others in the field who would be willing to share more about their journey to medicine. After being connected with some amazing professionals, my connections expanded. There are so many benefits that come with being in a mentorship and I hope that the following tips help you, as they have for me. 

Here are some tips I used to find mentors and maintain relationships with mentors:

• Understand the role of the mentor and mentee, and set goals that you want to accomplish. Include this detail in your meeting. 
• Ask yourself how often you would like to meet with your future mentor and include this in your meeting.
• Make a checklist of things you are looking for in a mentor and areas that you feel a mentor can assist you. Let your future mentor know how their expertise will be helpful for you.
• Talk with your current mentors and politely request if they know anyone in their network who may be willing to meet with you. 
• Networking is key. So, try to attend webinars, professional luncheons, clubs, or speak with your professors. Then, follow-up a few days later via email including an introduction, remind them how you met them, and request for a meeting. Remind yourself to be open to receiving and to stay open-minded.
• Ask yourself why this person would be helpful towards you and your professional goals.
• During the meeting, take some time to share a few reasons why you wanted to meet, what you enjoy about their work, and areas you may want to learn more if they are willing to continue meeting with you. Show interest and get to know them. Also, let them know that you are interested in the field and ask if they would feel comfortable in meeting with you (monthly, quarterly, bi-annually, etc.). 
• After the meeting, arrange a thank you note via email and let them know how grateful you are of their time to meet. Share something you really enjoyed and let them know that you will keep in touch. 
• In a few weeks, follow-up with them in an email to let them know of something you learned (if they recommended something during the previous meeting) and your progress (if you were working on something). This is the time to request if they would be willing to meet with you again in a few weeks. 
• For the next future meetings, it is important to come with something prepared like:
  • Questions about the field
  • Career questions
  • Work-life balance related questions
  • Request for opportunities (e.g., shadowing them, attending an event, research, classes to take, etc.)
  • Keep them updated and let them know how their advice or guidance has helped you.
• To end meetings, sometimes it can be a little hard to figure out how to close it so I usually end with:
  • Career questions
  • Tasks or areas that I want to accomplish
  • Summarizing any advice that was suggested
  • Gratitude: be sure to express how thankful you are of their time since many professionals take time out of their day to speak with you. It is super important that you value your time as well as theirs. 
  • Plans to follow-up

Many of these tips noted have been used by me. This has really helped me advance forward and it has helped me build community at my local university. Generally, I am a shy person but I remind myself that I soon will be an advocate for my future patients. Being this future advocate leaves little room to be shy, so I have tried to learn ways by which to get out of my shell. As many have said in the past, practice makes perfect. I hope that you take my advice and use it to your advantage. This is not the only way to maintain relationships with your mentor, however this is some advice on how I was able to maintain relationships with mine as a non-traditional pre-med student.