Mentoring Learners

Mentorship Compacts and Independent Development Plans

Some mentors may opt to utilize a mentorship compact as a way to ensure both mentor and mentee are clear about and agree upon expectations. These sample compacts should be customized for your program and mentoring relationships.

Specific trainee programs may require you use a specific compact or IDP. Please check with program administers.

• REQUIRED: for BGS PhD and Combined Degree Students: Independent Development Plans for Biomedical Graduate Students. 
  • See Also: Responsibilities of Thesis Mentors, Thesis Students, and Thesis Advisory Committee Members
• REQUIRED for Postdoctoral Trainees: Independent Development Plan for Postdoctoral Trainees

More Sample Documents

• Compact: Mentor Expectations of Undergraduate Mentee
• Compact: Mentor Expectations of Graduate Student Mentee
• Independent Development Plan for Undergraduates

Setting Expectations with Trainees and Learners

Think back to when you were a medical student, resident, fellow, graduate or postdoctoral student.  What type of guidance did you need at different points in your training? Did you have mentors who helped you acclimate and who fostered your career development along the way? Effective mentorship is pivotal to learner success! Mentors can provide guidance around career planning, research and scholarship, skill development, and work-life integration.

Research Mentee Expectations

Best Practice: Send this form to a research mentee early on in the relationship or as a way to determine if your mentoring philosophy correlates with potential mentees' needs and expectations.

General Mentee Expectations

Best Practice: Send this form to a non-research-based mentee early on in the relationship or as a way to determine if your mentoring philosophy correlates with potential mentees' needs and expectations.

Mentee Priorities

Best Practice: Use this tool to determine the type of mentoring your (potential) mentees prioritize as most important to them.

Mentee Research Reflections

Best Practice: Send this form to a mentee at the conclusion of a discrete research experience.

Longitudinal Mentoring as an Education Category

Longitudinal Mentoring: Best Practices Tip Sheet

Although a considerable time commitment, longitudinal mentoring (mentoring a learner over time with capstone projects, as a thesis committee chair, qualifying exam member, etc.) is particularly beneficial to learner development. In recognition of such, the Perelman School of Medicine allots teaching credit for longitudinal mentoring. 

Similarly, in recognition of your commitment to supervising outstanding scholarship, the Perelman School of Medicine allots teaching credit for working directly with trainees and for significant participation in the design, conduct, analysis and drafting of your trainees’ scholarly products.  

See section on Education Expectations & Evaluations

Guides

• Entering Mentoring, from The Wisconsin Program for Scientific Teaching, Supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professors Program
• Mentoring and Being Mentored, from Making the Right Moves: A Practical Guide to Scientific Management for Postdocs and New Faculty, Second Edition, Based on the BWF-HHMI Course in Scientific Management for the Beginning Academic Investigator