Trainee Mentorship

The Hematology Research Training Program prioritizes providing top-notch mentorship and career advising to all of our trainees, and we're proud to say that our current trainees and alumni have given us positive feedback on these fronts. To tailor our approach to each trainee's unique needs, we custom-fit our mentorship plans based on differences in training stage and career goals.

Our mentorship plans include common elements while also taking into account the specific needs of postdoctoral and predoctoral trainees, as well as physician-scientists and scientists. Our aim is to complement and extend the expectations set by predoctoral PhD and MD/PhD programs, clinical fellowships, and the Office of Biomedical Postdoctoral Programs, not replace them.

Good mentorship is a collaborative effort, and we work closely with all relevant parties to ensure that our trainees receive the support they need to achieve their goals.

See caption for description and link to tabular representation of data
Graph of the Hematology Research Training Program logic model, including Mission, Goals, Program Elements and Program Evaluation

Faculty Commitment 

Every faculty trainer associated with the HRTP has been asked to affirm the following: "As a faculty trainer and principal investigator, I am fully committed to the responsible conduct of research, thoughtful mentorship for my trainees at all levels, and the promotion of a safe, inclusive and supportive research training environment at the Perelman School of Medicine. This commitment includes my willingness to 1) maintain required records of participation in, as well as to provide training in, rigorous and unbiased experimental design, methodology, analysis, interpretation, and reporting of results, 2) participate in mentorship and unconscious bias training programs whenever required, and 3) ensure that my trainees meet program requirements for thesis and mentorship committee meetings. I also recognize that an important part of my role as a mentor is to help my trainees complete their training in a timely fashion with the skills, credentials, and experiences that they will need to sustain careers in the biomedical research workforce as successful physician-scientists and scientists." When new faculty members join the training faculty, they are required to make the same commitment.

Faculty Mentorship Training

The Hematology Research Training Program places a high importance on faculty mentorship training, and as such, all HRTP faculty are expected to make time to participate in mentorship training. This requirement can be fulfilled through attending workshops at the University of Pennsylvania, taking the CIMER course at the University of Wisconsin, or completing online training through KnowledgeLink.

To support our faculty in meeting this requirement, we have offered workshops such as the 2.5-hour CIMER-based "Aligning Expectations and Maintaining Effective Communications" workshop, which was held twice in November 2022 and will be repeated again in 2023. Dr. Brass is a co-organizer and leader of this workshop. In April 2023, we will also offer a follow-up workshop, "Culturally Aware Mentorship," to further support our faculty in providing effective mentorship to our trainees.

To support our faculty in meeting this requirement, we have offered workshops such as the 2.5-hour CIMER-based "Aligning Expectations and Maintaining Effective Communications" workshop, which was held twice in November 2022 and will be repeated again in 2023. Dr. Brass is a co-organizer and leader of this workshop. In April 2023, we will also offer a follow-up workshop, "Culturally Aware Mentorship," to further support our faculty in providing effective mentorship to our trainees.

Mentorship Expectations 

The HRTP has several measures in place to ensure effective mentorship for its trainees, including:

Faculty Commitment to Mentorship. HRTP is committed to selecting faculty with good mentorship practices and requires them to attend mentorship training workshops. The HRTP's Faculty Directory indicates whether each faculty member has participated in mentorship training and unconscious bias training.
Mentorship compacts are tailored to the training stage and career goals of each trainee and are designed to foster communication and align expectations between the trainee and mentor. The MD/PhD program and BGS PhD programs require a signed mentorship compact before a student’s thesis mentor selection is confirmed.
Mentorship committees are jointly selected by the trainee and the program and are tailored to the trainee's training stage and career goals. Mentorship committee meetings occur at least twice a year.

Individualized Development Plans for each trainee whose contents are tailored for training stage and career goals.  

Twice yearly meetings with one or both program directors to review progress towards goals (including those formulated in the IDP), discuss career plans, give advice on networking within and outside of Penn, discuss the trainee’s relationship with their research mentor, plan use of training-related expense funds, assist with applying for individual fellowships, and discuss reappointment to the HRTP.

Participation in the annual HRTP Trainee Day and program review attended by the program directors, the members of the internal and external advisory boards, and the other HRTP trainees and their research mentors.

Administrative support to arrange mentorship committee meetings and Trainee Day.