By Andrew Sephien, MD

Andrew is a second-year internal medicine resident at HCA Healthcare/USF Morsani College of Medicine: Citrus Memorial Hospital and a graduate of Morsani College of Medicine at the University of South Florida. He currently serves as a Member of the Mentorship and Networking Subcommittee for the Southern Medical Association’s Physicians in Training Committee. The following excerpt describes his experiences surrounding mentorship in medicine. 

In my short career, I have had the privilege of being both a mentor and a mentee. I was lucky enough to have had amazing mentors, both faculty and senior trainees, who have been there for me each step of the way. As a medical student, they helped with furthering my medical education and research development. I appreciated how patient they were with me as they took time out of their day to further my development as a clinician and as an individual. As I went through the match, I recalled the unpredictability of the experience. I recalled the emotions that I felt of not knowing “what’s next”. I vividly remember talking to one of my mentors as to how to deal with the uncertainty. ‘Seize the opportunity by the horns and run with it and I’m here to help how I can’ is what he told me, and so I did… Fast forward now as a resident, he and my current mentors have played a great part in furthering my clinical reasoning, guiding me as I prepare for fellowship applications. Even now, while our conversations consisted of medicine and my development, I appreciated the opportunities to get to know my mentors as humans with their personal lives while also sharing what goes on in mine. As I reflect on these experiences, it's, without a doubt, the impact of my mentors on my development.

I reflected on the qualities of my mentors often throughout medical school and residency, and asked myself, what did I appreciate from my mentors? I’ve found that what has helped form a strong mentorship with them is their genuine interest in my success, while also being compassionate. Additionally, my mentors effectively allowed for a safe sounding board, allowing me to freely discuss and receive advice when needed. Of course, as the mentee, I felt that I should do my part in maintaining honest communication, taking heed of their advice, and applying it. With their commitment to me, I felt that I must do this same and pay it forward. With this reflection, I eventually took on a mentee during medical school, a junior medical student. I recall allowing myself to make a conscious effort to get to know my mentee and being readily available for all questions they may ask, whether for academic or personal development. As I watched them succeed, I became overjoyed, as seeing their success was rewarding. 

Medicine is difficult, and to succeed, it takes a village. While I still have much to learn, I look forward to future relationships with both mentors and mentees. The opportunity for our growth as mentors and mentees, while also seeing our mentees grow is rewarding. I hope more in our field become involved in mentoring, whether through formal programs such as the SMA PIT mentoring program or informal, as it provides the opportunity to grow and pay it forward.