RCGP Mentoring

Mentoring is an incredibly valuable experience for both mentees and mentors

RCGP Mentoring allows mentors to…

• Connect with a thriving community of members who support one another in their personal and career development locally and further afield
• Support fellow members by sharing the wealth of experience and knowledge you have developed as a GP.
• Grow both by helping the profession to flourish and by supporting your own personal development. Refine a raft of expertise such as communication and leadership skills.

RCGP mentoring supports you in your role as a mentor by providing a wealth of resources to help shape your relationships to make them as enjoyable and productive as possible. As a busy person, your role as a mentor can be moulded by you. Dedicate your time how and when it suits you by switching your availability, making the most of the easy-to-use request system and setting limits on how many mentees you wish to take on.

Benefits of being an RCGP mentor

When talking about the benefits of mentoring, it is commonplace for the benefits to the mentee to take centre stage. However, mentorship is a relationship, and offers reciprocal benefits for mentors willing to invest time in developing another professional.

As well as developing your own skills and perspective, RCGP mentors can benefit from bi-annual learning events and monthly digests. Our offer for mentors is ever evolving and we look forward to introducing an online forum for mentors shortly.

• Recognition as a subject matter expert and leader
• Exposure to fresh perspectives, ideas and approaches
• Extension of your professional development record
• Opportunity to reflect on your own goals and practices
• Development of your personal leadership and coaching styles
• Opportunity to expand your professional network
• Confidence building

Expectations

RCGP Mentoring may be different to some other mentoring programmes you have come across in general practice. RCGP Mentoring provides the means to connect with other members for informal peer support. As an RCGP mentor, you will support your peer(s) through a career challenge or transition by using the resources and tools available to you on the platform alongside the skills and knowledge you have acquired in your career.

As an RCGP Mentor you are not expected to provide clinical supervision, or feel responsible for your mentee’s mental and physical wellbeing. If at any time you feel that this is a concern, there are resources to support you in resolving any issues and to signpost your mentee to external support services.

Suitability

Whilst being a mentor can be incredibly rewarding for both parties, it also comes with responsibility. Mentoring, poorly administered, can lead to the perpetuation of bad practices, a lack of clear direction and progress, and an ineffective mentoring relationship. To be a successful mentor, you need to ask yourself some questions. Honest answers will help you to get into the right mindset, and help you determine what form that mentoring will take...

Whilst there are benefits to your development, you need to want to genuinely help any potential mentee succeed.

RCGP Mentoring provides you with the flexibility to deliver mentoring in many ways. However, you still need to give your mentoring relationship thinking and listening time, particularly in the early stages.

Adaptability

The relationship should develop into a free-flowing exchange of ideas. Whilst your mentee can benefit from your methods and approach, they may have a different way of approaching problems or achieving a goal.

Flexibility

The length of your mentoring relationship depends on the needs of your mentee and what you have agreed upon from the outset. Be prepared to be flexible as the needs of your mentee change.

Benefits of having an RCGP mentor

Whether you are starting out on your GP journey or contemplating retirement, or you are at any of the stages in between, you will constantly be coming across career challenges. More often than not, there will have been someone out there who has been through similar challenges and can help by providing you with sound guidance and inspiration on how to move forward.

Benefits to mentoring include:

• Exposure to new ideas and ways of thinking.
• Advice on developing strengths and overcoming weaknesses.
• Guidance on professional development and advancement.
• Increased visibility, recognition and demonstration of your career focus.
• Improved self-confidence.
• It can be a supportive environment in which successes and failures can be evaluated.
• The opportunity to develop new skills and knowledge.

When to seek a mentor

Mentors can be a valuable resource no matter where you are in your career and no matter what career challenge you may be facing.

Before registering as a mentee, consider what you need from a mentoring relationship. RCGP Mentoring may be different to other mentoring programmes you have come across in general practice. RCGP Mentoring provides the means to connect with other members, from like-minded peers to role models, for informal peer support. RCGP Mentoring is designed to be a peer-led career development tool and RCGP Mentors cannot provide clinical supervision, and we would advise you to visit 'Accessing support from others' if you have concern for your own wellbeing.

Stories from our mentors

Dr Gbenga Periola is a Portfolio GP with a keen interest in medical education. He discusses his motivations for becoming a GP mentor as part of the RCGP Mentoring.

Read his story

Dr Anita Campbell was a portfolio GP and is part of our LCARM community.

Read her story