Mentoring in Medicine

The publication "Mentoring in Medicine (A Guide to Practice and Context for the Introduction and Implementation of Mentoring Programmes in Medicine and Healthcare)", as the title suggests, focuses on introducing mentoring within the fields of medicine and healthcare as a tool for:
a) supporting the professional and personal growth and development of (primarily) early-career doctors and physicians, b) cultivating interpersonal relationships and improving working conditions, and c) promoting equity.

 The team of authors involved in preparing this text emphasizes a transdisciplinary approach, combining expertise from medicine, sociology, gender studies, and applied ethics. The handbook is therefore intended not only for current and future mentors, but also for institutional representatives planning mentoring programmes, and members of the public interested in learning more about this topic. The text provides not only practical tools, strategies, and tips for preparing and implementing mentoring programmes, but also critical reflection and contextual background. It underscores participatory and inclusive approaches that take into account different life stages, circumstances, and forms of disadvantage.

 The handbook is divided into five consecutive chapters, ranging from defining mentoring as a method of supporting early-career colleagues (Chapter 1), to exploring the specifics of mentoring in medicine (Chapter 2) and conducting mentoring conversations in this context (Chapter 3). It then addresses the fundamental gender dimensions of medicine and healthcare (Chapter 4), and finally establishes gender-sensitive mentoring (Chapter 5) as a key direction we believe mentoring should take.

 The publication aims to ensure that mentoring contributes not only to the individual development of physicians (and healthcare professionals more broadly), but also to structural change and greater equity within the medical and healthcare environment. It was developed as part of the “Kultimed” project – Cultivation (of relationships, environment, and conditions in medicine) – supported by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (Technologická agentura ČR, TA CR).