Mentorship What is mentorship and why is it important?According to the Committee on Effective Mentoring in STEMM from the National Academies of Science, mentorship is “a professional, working alliance in which individuals work together over time to support the personal and professional growth, development, and success of the relational partners through the provision of career and psychosocial support.” The committee points out that coaching, advising, role modeling, and sponsorship are part of the mentoring role. However, there is growing recognition that a single mentor may not be able to fulfill all of the mentee’s needs and that mentor availability is limited, so adopting an approach that incorporates other models may be of benefit for the mentee (ie. group of mentors working with one mentee, peer and near-peer mentoring structures, online peer communities, facilitated mentoring, etc). See: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK552775/Mentorship is associated with successful career advancement and promotion. It supports engagement within our academic community and is a catalyst for academic productivity. For a mentoring relationship to be successful it requires relational authenticity, it does not happen overnight. It offers opportunities for growth for both the mentee and the mentor. The mentor becomes invested in the mentee’s success or advancement. See: https://hbr.org/2022/11/how-to-do-sponsorship-right About mentoring and how it shaped my careerDr. MeiLan Han is Professor and Director of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at University of Michigan. She shared her story and provided insights on the importance of having a mentor and becoming one. Dr. Han recalls coming out of fellowship with no publications or a defined career path. Her story highlights an active search for career opportunities and the fundamental role that her mentor and sponsor played in launching what is now a prolific career. D. Han shares how. She found her mentor and how she is now engaged in supporting others. — Alex DuarteLink to Dr. Han's bioClick video below to view Dr. Han’s presentation on Mentorship as UTMB’s Middleton Endowed Invited Speaker. Presented at UTMB’s Pulmonary and Critical Care Conference, October 2022. If you need a mentor and would like help finding one, click here.If you are interested in becoming a mentor, click here Please visit the following page in the Hub to find a career mentor if you are thinking of:Advancing your career in medical education: XXXXXX Seeking guidance on the faculty promotion process : XXXX Action Items If you do not have a mentor, reach out to a mentoring support community within your institution and/or professional association now. If you have something to share, either a skill, an area of expertise, a way to approach a problem or a desire to help others make progress with their career, please volunteer. We need you! Submit your Mentoring Pearl here Submit your Comment or Question on Mentoring here.