Mentor Program

The Balance Mentor Program is a personalized support system, using the power of the Internet, for women physicians with difficult challenges that impact their professional lives. Current members find that the experience of and moral support from other women physicians is helpful and comforting when they are faced with a conundrum or situation that won't resolve easily. Communications with colleagues, staff, or patients may pose problems that can get out of hand if not managed well early on. Sometimes we have a blind spot, which we can work out with a Balance Mentor who can relate to the situation without being so closely involved

Advice might translate into skill-building to help recognize our weak spots and respond more appropriately and effectively in the future. Another time, someone might need a sounding board to hear her own thoughts without the Mentor necessarily offering advice.

The Mentor Program is NOT crisis intervention or formal therapy. This resource supports women physicians and assists them to resolve problems, look at the big picture, and create plans of action for education, communication, life changes, and personal and professional growth.

The Process

1. A Balance member requests a Mentor by emailing the Association Manager at balance4wp@gmail.com

2. The Chair of the Balance Mentor Program reviews the request and matches experience and skills of one or more other members that would be helpful to the requesting member.

3. The selected Balance Mentor e-mails the requesting member to initiate a relationship and set guidelines that will help to:

a. Acknowledge the request and propose details for working together
b. Confirm agreement on issues and goals and explore what the Mentor can offer
c. Establish a timeline and communication pattern to meet the goals
d. Agree on mutual closure and statement of accomplishment

4. The Mentee will evaluate how well the program responded to and assist with her request (evaluations are confidential and used for process improvement)

5. The Balance president, who does not mentor during her term in office, reviews all evaluations and addresses any concerns and opportunities for improvement.