A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS: DFCM MENTORSHIP PROGRAM SUPPORTS FACULTY AT ALL CAREER STAGES

By Alisa Kim

“The delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your own image but giving them the opportunity to create themselves.” — Steven Spielberg

Looking back on her career, Dr. Joyce Nyhof-Young says she has benefitted richly from different kinds of mentorship.

Whether it came in the form of people supporting her by taking her out for dinner when she was a stereotypical starving student, or colleagues who gave strategic advice that helped her apply for senior promotion, mentorship has shaped her career trajectory.

“Mentorship has been absolutely essential for my career development. That’s one of the reasons I like being a mentor for so many other people, because it passes on the kindness that I’ve been shown,” says Dr. Nyhof-Young, a Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM) at the University of Toronto.

As an education scientist, Dr. Nyhof-Young is building capacity in education scholarship at DFCM by supporting faculty working in this discipline. She helps clinicians and clinician teachers with scholarly projects that involve everything from developing resources and curricula, evaluating programs and studying related theoretical issues. She views this collaboration as a form of mentoring. “I really enjoy working with teams. I give consultations before they start to help them get off on the right foot and save time and give them a shoulder to lean on as they make their way in education scholarship,” says Dr. Nyhof-Young.

In 2020, Dr. Nyhof-Young was promoted to full professor. She says her promotion effort occurred over several years, and she could not have navigated the process of senior promotion alone. Several DFCM faculty members provided support and advice, but it was the counsel of colleagues like Dr. Ruth Heisey that informed her approach, Dr. Nyhof-Young says. “I think promotion is a very intimidating process. It’s often like starting in education scholarship. It really helps to have people who are on your side, helping you to move forward in the best way possible. The ideas and insight of supportive colleagues throughout the promotion process really made a huge difference and made my path through promotion a lot smoother than it otherwise would have been,” she says.

Mentorship for faculty at all stages of their career is a departmental priority, says Dr. Viola Antao, DFCM’s Faculty Mentorship Lead. “There are many people who may benefit from mentorship but never connect. That’s a huge gap and need,” says Dr. Antao, an Associate Professor at DFCM and a family physician at Women’s College Hospital.

Dr. Nyhof-Young is paying the good advice she has received forward. In August 2022, she participated in a DFCM mentorship panel event aimed at providing guidance on senior promotion. In it, she talked about the value of seeking mentorship, how to build one’s CV and dossier efficiently, challenges she faced, and the importance of guarding emotional health and well-being throughout the process.

The panel discussion on senior promotion is one of many mentorship initiatives Antao is leading at DFCM. She is developing best practices and strategies in mentorship, an area about which she is passionate. “Research shows people who get high-quality, well-matched mentorship are more likely to report job satisfaction, less likely to burn out, and more likely to advance in terms of their career,” says Dr. Antao.

To build mentorship capacity at the department and understand what the needs are, Dr. Antao conducted a department-wide survey of faculty. Results showed the top pri- orities are teaching, wellness, promotion, and supporting faculty who have recently graduated and faculty who are from equity-deserving groups.

Some of the mentorship program’s activities include virtual coffee chats, to provide flash mentoring between faculty at different teaching hospital sites on a one-off basis, as well as matching faculty for longer-term, one-to-one mentoring relationships. Dr. Antao notes a pilot program with 16 mentees is being conducted and has received positive feedback from participants.

She encourages faculty who want mentoring or are willing to provide mentorship to reach out to her office. “People who have suffered challenges like life transition or illness have said, ‘I wish I had mentorship during that time because it would’ve made a huge difference.’ There are many reasons why people want a mentor, and they don’t necessarily know how to connect,” says Dr. Antao.

The reasons people want mentorship are varied and personal. Dr. Nyhof-Young recalls a former colleague who was close to retirement needing support during that period. She says having guidance is especially meaningful during times of change. “I think that mentorship is key at transition points in our careers. Gaining the mentorship you need makes things so much easier.”

Dr. Viola Antao (right) is the faculty mentorship lead at DFCM. She is a mentor to Dr. Sofia Solar, who is in the second year of her family medicine residency. Dr. Antao says mentorship is critical not only during the first few years after graduation, but throughout all stages of a faculty member’s career.