The 2008 program is underway; applications for the January – December 2009 program will become available in July 2008. In the meantime, staff are encouraged to explore ABOG membership for individual mentoring connections and to apply next year.



For Students

Being mentored is part of the professional development of every UCSF medical student. There are several resources that include mentorship for students:

• Advisory Colleges are designed to provide personalized academic advising, promote service and social activities, and provide guidance regarding career options.
• Career Advisors assist students in their career choice decision-making and in the application process.
• The online program, UCSF Careers in Medicine, is an important resource to help students work through the career-choice process.

Mentoring for: Students Website: Student Professional Development Contact: Maxine Papadakis, MD, Associate Dean for Student Affairs

For Residents/Clinical Fellows

While there is not yet a single centralized mentorship program for residents and clinical fellows, each residency and fellowship program has developed a specific mentoring program for trainees.

For example, the Department of Medicine has created various mechanisms for mentorship by creating "Areas of Distinction", organized around areas of academic interest to create "smallness within bigness" and attach trainees with specialized mentors.

Another example is the Department of Pediatrics Fellows College, a three-year program tailored specifically to the professional development needs of ACGME and other academic fellows in the Department of Pediatrics.

Residents and fellows should contact their department chair's offices to find out more about their department's mentorship programs.

For Postdocs

There is currently no centralized mentorship resource for postdocs and graduate students, but a number of offices and associations offer resources to this population. The Postdoctoral Scholar Association is trying to implement both an Individual Development Plan for all postdocs and a program that will help postdocs obtain an independent mentor, i.e. someone who is not in a direct professional relationship to the mentoree.

A survey last year by the the Chancellor's Advisory Committee on the Status of Women (see below), showed that many grad students and postdocs did not feel they are currently receiving adequate mentoring. An organized mentoring program was greatly desired, especially by women, ethnic minorities, and people with spouses or spouses and children.

Links: Training Postdocs and Graduate Students Contact: Laurie Littlepage, former Chair, CACSW Subcommittee on Students and Postdocs; Greg Potter, President PSA See also: UCSF Office of Postdoc Affairs Mentoring Resources; CFAR Mentoring Program

Other Mentoring Resources (List in Progress)

Chancellor's Advisory Committee on the Status of Women (CACSW)

The website for the Chancellor's Advisory Committee on the Status of Women (CACSW) provides UCSF information for women students, staff and faculty on critical issues such as retention, promotion and mentoring. It also provides information and links to resources and programs—helpful to UCSF women and community members—that address career development needs.

Website: Chancellor's Advisory Committee on the Status of Women Contact: Sederia Badgett, Program Analyst

UCSF LGBT Resources

UCSF LGBT Resources offers various mentoring opportunities for LGBT trainees, staff, and faculty. To facilitate mentoring, UCSF LGBT Resources publishes an online "Out List" of faculty, students, alums, and staff which is used extensively by SOM faculty and students, not only to create individual mentoring connections within shared fields of interest, but also for online discussion of such topics as being "out" to attendings and on residency applications, working with LGBT bias that may be encountered in fellow providers and/or patients, the "lavender ceiling" that may be faced by LGBT faculty, and the varying LGBT-friendliness of medical specialties.

These discussions also occur on the UCSF LGBT listserv, which includes several hundred SOM affiliates. In addition, LGBT Resources sponsors (with the student LGBT Association and the Chancellor's GLBT Advisory Committee) a variety of events at which LGBT faculty and students discuss concerns for LGBT people in medicine and promote ongoing mentoring.

Mentoring for and by: LGBT trainees, staff, and faculty Website: UCSF LGBT Resources Contact: Shane Leslie Snowdon, Director, LGBT Resources