Our reciprocal mentoring programme aims to engage paediatricians who face barriers, challenges or disadvantages in the professional setting and ensure their views are heard at the highest level of the College.
Meet some of the past partners in our reciprocal mentoring programme!
I have chosen to take part in the reciprocal mentoring as a way of gaining cross-generational insight into the diverse perspectives of the RCPCH thus allowing for knowledge sharing between the mentor and mentee, skills enhancement and improved communication. Furthermore, I love the networking opportunity the reciprocal mentoring provides and its ability to promote inclusivity and a deeper understanding of participants’ strengths and challenges. I hope this programme will give me the opportunity to improve my leadership skills while enhancing my collaboration with the wider team.
As the chair of the Trainee Committee, I sit on the RCPCH Executive Committee, and it is fantastic to be able to bring a trainee perspective to the running of the college, current workstreams and evolving issues within child health. I was keen to take part in the reciprocal mentoring scheme to gain understanding into how the college can better serve and reach members from all different backgrounds and circumstances and to be able to feed this into my role at the RCPCH. I also hoped to be able to give some insights into leadership and voluntary roles within the college as well as more about how the wider college works, to my mentoring partner.
I took part in reciprocal mentoring last year and am delighted to be able to do so again this year. I look forward to seeing life as a member through different eyes to mine, and to understand someone else’s journey through medical and paediatric training to this point in time.
I volunteered for the reciprocal mentoring program with the hope to share my ideas and experiences of being a member of our diverse paediatric workforce and understand how the college values of building a more inclusive workforce is put into action. Listening to each other and sharing individual stories will help break down barriers and build stronger teams. Together, we would be able to challenge inequalities in all aspects of healthcare, provide better service to the children and young people we look after and celebrate this diversity.
I have been fortunate to work as a consultant paediatrician for over 20 years and have found one of the most rewarding activities is mentoring. I think listening and sharing thoughts and ideas is immensely rewarding and often helpful for both mentor and mentee; it really is a two-way process that encourages growth and expands ones knowledge, capacity and abilities. I believe mentorship towards leadership is crucial for the future of our profession and hope I can continue to contribute a little myself.