Mentorship Program

MENTORSHIP PROGRAM

The ISPD is developing a 12 month virtual Mentorship Program, commencing in June 2023. The aim of the program is to link junior and more senior members of the Society, forming a mutually beneficial professional relationship. Each Mentor/ Mentee relationship will be able to establish her/his own goals and learning objectives, which will depend upon the Mentee’s previous experience in pediatric dermatology.

Mentee learning objectives may include:

Growth of clinical knowledge - This can be achieved via case discussions and presentations (including cases on the ISPD website), journal reviews and didactic lectures.
Research – Mentees who want to strengthen their research skills will be paired with Mentors experienced in research design, conducting clinical trials, statistical analysis and writing for publication.
Career development – Mentees may wish to discuss and plan their future career development, such as optimising experience and skills for an academic post, establishing a Department in Pediatric Dermatology within their hospital, and establishing multidisciplinary clinics.
Networking – Connecting with an experienced Mentor provides new opportunities for expanding the professional network. This can be helpful when trying to solve difficult clinical cases, finding speakers for a regional meeting or finding co-collaborators for clinical projects. It also provides friendship and support.

Mentors for 2023 - 2024

How to Apply?

Application to this program is open for ISPD Members only.

Mentees

Please prepare a personal statement of no more than 250 words, outlining learning objectives. The more we understand your previous experiences and goals, the better positioned we are to find a suitable Mentor. Please include your preferred language.

Mentors

Please prepare a 150-200 word personal statement, outlining any previous experiences as a Mentor (not essential) and what strengths you will bring to the professional relationship. Please include your preferred language. Please email your personal statement to info@ispedderm.com with the subject "Mentor Application".

At the end of the 12 month program we will obtain feedback from both Mentors and Mentees, so we can continue to develop and strengthen the program. Participants will be awarded Certificates of Mentorship Completion.

SUGGESTED GUIDELINES FOR THE ISPD VIRTUAL MENTORSHIP PROGRAMME

Suggested guidelines for meetings:

The mentor and mentee should meet virtually at least once every 2 months.
The mentee should drive the agenda for the meeting, having formal goals set for each meeting, ideally determined before the end of the previous meeting, with discussion of achievement towards goals at each session.
The mentee can discuss with his/her mentor one of the ISPD E-learning cases in detail – and the mentor can give more insight about similar cases seen/diagnosed by him/her previously.
The mentor can choose an ISPD case for discussion, emphasizing research related to the topic.
The mentee with the mentor can pick a small area of focus within Pediatric Dermatology and do a project (eg, collecting a few cases of lichen planus or psoriasis in children to note their clinical presentations or clinico-pathological correlation).
The mentor and mentee can together attend ISPD webinars and discuss the mentee’s list of ‘Learning Objectives ‘ from the webinars as the basis for deeper discussion.
Mentors and mentees can create a small database of ‘thesis topics’ or ‘research projects’.

Sharing learning more broadly across the mentorship program:

Mentees in the program can organize a virtual journal club to be presented with their mentors as a group (can also be done as mentor-mentee dyads).
Mentors can each deliver a didactic lecture related to pediatric dermatology for 15-20 minutes to one or more mentees with a subsequent Q&A session for another 15-20 minutes.
Mentors and mentees as a group or individually can discuss various aspects related to research and scholarly activity, eg, evidence-based medicine in pediatric dermatology, research methodology, parent/patient counseling, how to write a paper, the art of presentation, etc.
Mentees will be invited to present data at the mentoring year’s end at an ISPD webinars dedicated to research during the program.

Anne Halbert

Australia

Amy Paller

United States

Arun C Inamadar

India

Gail Todd

South Africa

Paula Luna

Argentina