Mentorship in Med School: a Thread

Few people have had as great of an impact on my academic career thus far as Dr. @keepark. He embodies what it means to be a *great* mentor to med students. Here’s why - & what to look for as an M0/M1.

#MedTwitter #MedStudentTwitter 1/ https://twitter.com/keepark/status/1301010397097418752

Qualities of a *great* med school mentor include:

Establishing a “school-first” policy
Encouraging critical thinking
Holding you accountable for your challenges - & your successes!

What might these look like in practice? Here r examples from my mentor, @keepark 2/

First, he quickly set a “school first” precedent himself by constantly checking in w my class work & availability before starting any new projects.

Supported by this safe & open space, I learned how (& when) to say yes/no to opportunities presented by influential faculty.
3/

Second, he has consistently encouraged me to think critically about our goals & methods — with no topic or precedent being off-limits. Just bc something has been done a certain way for a long time doesn’t mean it is the best way. He welcomed new (perhaps disruptive) ideas.

4/

It is hard to express the weight of this via Tweet, but empowering students to question “the system” early on leverages the fresh perspectives students may (perhaps unintentionally) offer before extensive training gradually adds the scaffolding of “precedent”. 5/

Finally, he expected that when I did commit to a project, I produced complete, high-quality work by his standards. Moreover, he would go out of his way to highlight the stellar efforts of his students during meetings, taking advantage of every moment to lift us up. 6/

This truly speaks to his pride in his work - as well as in his students. Though we worked for the project and not for recognition, he presented us students to his far more established colleagues as valuable contributors when we earned it (often without a heads up haha). 7/

I learned how to be an effective, contributing teammate to people far more advanced in their training/etc than myself. That student-faculty gap is often best bridged by faculty themselves making a (strategically limited) effort themselves - then expecting students take over. 8/

I could go on & on this list is in no way exhaustive or comprehensive! These are some of the features of mentorship that are seldom highlighted - but truly invaluable.

Dr. @keepark : thank you from the bottom of my heart, & I look forward to our continued work together! 9/

I’d love to hear from #MedTwitter — what are some of the important attributes that make a *great* med school mentor? what advice would you give med students for finding a mentor?

#MedStudentTwitter #PreMedTwitter 10/10