Mentor Connect

Program Overview

SCAI's Mentor Connect program is a community-building initiative and professional development opportunity for all participating interventional cardiologists.

For a mentor, this is your opportunity to share your career story, give back to the interventional cardiology community, and practice leadership skills, such as relationship building and active listening. In return, the new relationships you build will give you fresh insight into others' experiences of working in the field, encouraging you to look at new challenges differently and consider career opportunities you have yet to explore.

For a mentee, it is a chance to establish a relationship that can help you develop your skills and clinical knowledge, build your professional network, set professional and personal development goals, and signpost you to career opportunities in interventional cardiology. Encouragement to adopt new strategies and develop new skills may initially push you out of your comfort zone but will help you grow self-confidence in the longer term.

Expectations

Participants commit to meeting once a month for six months, either in person or virtually.
Mentees are responsible for initiating contact with their mentor and scheduling sessions.
Before meeting with their mentor for the first time, mentees should think about their long and short-term goals and what they want to gain from the mentoring experience. Remember, your mentor is volunteering their time. Please don't waste it.
Together mentees and mentors should agree on the goals and objectives for their relationship.
The mentor's role is to advise, share, and guide. They should listen, encourage, and give feedback - they may be candid but not judgmental.
Mentors can also advocate for their mentees, identifying relevant opportunities for their mentee to advance their careers, such as highlighting events, faculty opportunities, awards, and leadership opportunities.
Mentors may also assist their mentees with introductions and facilitate networking.
Mentors and mentees may be of a different gender or culture. Both should be respectful of differences.
Both mentors and mentees are expected to maintain the confidentiality of their relationship.

Who Should Sign Up

Mentors—SCAI's FSCAI, Senior Fellow, MSCAI, and Emeritus members.

Mentees—any SCAI member.

Sign Up Process

Enrollment for SCAI's Mentor Connect program opens in April on MySCAI. Mentors and mentees should complete their online profiles by the end of May, so that mentees can begin searching the Mentor Directory and requesting mentorship connections in June. The mentorship period runs from July through the end of the year, at which point all Mentors and Mentees can provide feedback on their experience so we can make adjustments and improvements for the following year's Mentor Connect program.