Ashley Walsh

Effective mentoring
July 25, 2015
Effective Mentoring in Medical Dosimetry
When you ask successful people to look back on the beginning of their career they probably
would recognize they had a mentor at some point. And hopefully are now a mentor themselves to
a more novice person in their field. When you think of a mentor you think of someone with more
knowledge in the field, someone who can provide guidance and help you navigate through the
new environment of being in a workplace.2 Someone who is willing to spend the time, and who
is a strong communicator was pointed out by one of my interviews.3 I think the work willingness
was key, most people who have been on the job for many years has the ability to be a mentor but
that does not mean they will be one. Or are the right fit to be a mentor.
Not having any training for how to become a mentor makes it difficult to navigate how to
become a successful mentor to someone. Especially since our field has relied so heavily on
mentors in the past with on the job training.4 Which brings up another point, which is a mentor
more than just teacher. Yes, a mentor does teach the person, but they do more than that, they
are invested in your future. They are someone who wants to see you succeed and a less formal
relationship then the traditional student teacher relationship. They are someone you can go back
to years later for guidance. A mentor is helping to shape the future of your career and by default
helping to shape the future of the field as whole.1
Effective mentoring to me is someone who lets you work through your career on your own with
guidance. You do not have to have regular scheduled meetings or appointments with them, but
when you have questions or need help they are there. They offer suggestions and council and
might offer some tricks of the trade that is supportive and not overly critical.2 They would
share some good and bad experience from their past as they are appropriate to help relate to the
mentee and to let them know that even if they made a mistake, if they learned from it and moved
forward it happens to everyone. It is someone to talk things over with that is not your boss,
which can give an outside perspective to whatever is going on in your career.
I have been lucky to have to great mentors in my career so far, and I fully believe they can have a
huge impact on the success of their mentees. It is not saying a person could not get there on their
own, but with the help of a mentor you might get there sooner and without as many bumps in the

road. At my last job they had a specific program you could sign up for that matched you with a
mentor, but the relationships are not always that formal. Sometimes people happen in to one by
the dynamic of the people in your department. Sometimes they just naturally form over time. No
matter how you get there, I think having a mentor is a great opportunity if you are newer in the
field and offering guidance to new people is a great way to give back to your profession.

References
1. Lenards N. Mentoring. [SoftChalk]. LaCrosse, WI: UW-L Medical Dosimetry Program;
2014.
2. Discussion with Carolyn Hollan, Radiation Therapy Program Director at the University of
Cincinnati, OH. July 20, 2015.
3. Discussion with Michael Walsh, Direct sales manager at Fisher Healthcare. July 21, 2015.
4. Lenards N. Medical Dosimetry Education. [SoftChalk]. LaCrosse, WI: UW-L Medical
Dosimetry Program; 2014.

Appendix A
Mentoring questionnaire with Carolyn Hollan (Transcript)
July 20, 2015
Q: Define mentoring in your own words.
A: When a person with more knowledge and or experience in a specific discipline supports and
guides a less knowledgeable or experienced person who wants to advance in their area of work.
Q: How is a mentor different from a teacher?
A: A mentor supports the mentee in a more informal manner than a teacher. Great
communication skills are important.
Q: What does effective mentoring mean to you?
A: When a mentor welcomes the opportunity to provide sensitive counsel to an apprentice.
An effective mentor can offer suggestions and tricks of the trade in a manner that is supportive
and not overly critical.
Q What characteristics do you think a person needs to have to become an effective mentor?
A: A great mentor should be an excellent communicator, who can convey suggestions in such a
way as to be accepted by the mentee.
Q: In your opinion, how important are mentors in your particular profession?
A: A mentor could be very important, yet not as prevalent in our field as would be ideal. In
medical dosimetry, dosimetrists often work independently on their treatment plans, with minimal
collaboration with co-workers. This does not always lend itself to mentoring opportunities.

Appendix B
Mentoring questionnaire with Michael Walsh (Transcript)
July 21, 2015
Q: Define mentoring in your own words.
A: To me a mentor is someone who has focus on an individual and their learning and
development. A mentor would be someone who would bestow their years of experience and
training on you so that you will ultimately have more insightful knowledge on situations and
how to handle.
Q: How is a mentor different from a teacher?
A: In my opinion a teacher would work primarily with an entire group of individuals (within the
class), to teach them the necessary information for that class and would grade them according to
their individual rubrics. While a mentor would be more a one on one relationship, where the
mentor would give a better whole picture of the information as it relates to the field.
Q: What does effective mentoring mean to you?
A: Effective mentoring to me would be instilling a greater in depth experience of both material
and working knowledge on the mentee. They would share with them both good and bad
experiences from their history as it relates to the subject. So that the mentee would have a better
understanding of how to deal with issues and circumstances they have come up in the working
environment.
Q What characteristics do you think a person needs to have to become an effective mentor?
A: I would say the single most important characteristic that a mentor should have is willingness.
A willingness to teach someone their experiences and insight would be paramount for the success
of the mentee. Obviously, there would be other necessary components/characteristics. Such as a
strong ability to communicate, having years of experience and a strong working knowledge of
the subject as it relates to the field would also be key to the mentee success. But the willingness
to take on that role will supersede most any other characteristic the individual may have.
Q: In your opinion, how important are mentors in your particular profession?
A: In my profession mentors are very crucial to my success. I work in sales, and knowing how to
discuss topics and present different formats for different individuals is very crucial. I have about
8 other reps in my direct district, all of which I use as mentors for me at one time or another
depending on the need. Their knowledge and insight has helped me countless times in my role,
from small day to day issues I have had come up to larger more involved projects we work on.
Some of the other reps have 30 going on 40 plus years of experience. So in my day to day work,
it is seldom that I run into an issue that when brought up to the group as a whole that someone

else has not experienced the same issue or problem. So I can almost always be pointed in the
right direction even in a situation that is at first out of my known realm.