Katrina Lee

Mentoring Activity
August 7, 2014
Mentoring in a Medical Dosimetry
Embarking upon a journey to change careers is an exhilarating and an intimidating
prospect. Most new career paths require training and the commitment of time and money to
achieve an ambitious goal. In medical dosimetry, the didactic and clinical portions that lead to
graduation are just the start toward a successful career in a constantly changing and dynamic
field. Once school is completed, the journey of the career is just unfolding. During training and
throughout the tenure as a certified medical dosimetrist, having multiple mentors in the field are
key to having greater success. A mentor is a seasoned professional that forms a bond with a
colleague or student to give them advice and guidance.
1
A mentor opens up ideas and
perspectives in a new and different way, and help remind us that there is always more than one
way to arrive at the same goal. Moreover, in the field of medical dosimetry one should constantly
have mentors and also act as a mentor to others.

Many consider mentors to be teachers, and to some extent that is true. There is an
element of teaching and challenging with mentoring that overlaps with teaching.
2
Teachers
provide their students with a broad range of information and tools to work with and develop.
Mentors, on the other hand, are experienced professionals that either work in the field or have
recently retired, and have intimate knowledge of the nuances within the profession. The
experience that they have acquired while working directly in the field gives them great insight.
They have evolved a particular approach to problems and impart their wisdom onto the mentee,
thus giving their mentees a new perspective on how to use the tools that they have developed. A
good mentor is equipped to provide helpful tips and encouragement to his/her mentees and guide
them toward successful achievements.
1
The idea behind mentoring is to bestow one's knowledge
and expertise onto a less experienced individual to allow that person to further their potential.
3

The relationship between a mentee and a mentor is often mutualistic, meaning both
people benefit from the relationship. The mentee is certainly reaping the most benefit by learning
new ways to approach and resolve issues within the workplace. The mentor, however, also
benefits by having to continually upgrade their own set of tips and tricks thereby having a
broader range of tools and knowledge for themselves.
2
It is important for both the mentor and
mentee to always be open and listening, for the mentee may also teach the mentor a thing or two
along the way.
There are certain characteristics that people possess enabling them to be more effective
mentors. After interviewing two experienced medical dosimetrists, having patience and being
knowledgeable are essential qualities to being an effective mentor.
2,3
Another important quality
that excellent mentors have is the willingness to take the time to guide and impart their own
knowledge to another. Having open communication with trust and mutual respect provides
grounds for a more successful growing experience.
Not everyone is equipped to be a mentor. Mentoring requires time, energy, and patience.
A mentor must be willing to help develop a less experienced individual and guide them toward
success.
1
Mentoring is an honorable thing to do and an important aspect of the medical dosimetry
community. We, as medical dosimetrists, can all benefit from each other by offering guidance
and suggestions, and being open approaching problems differently.
2,3
There are many routes that
can be taken to achieve the goal of providing quality patient care through treatment. To be
successful within this field, we must be willing to constantly continue growing and learning.
3












References
1. Lenards N. Mentoring [Soft Chalk]. La Crosse, WI: University of Wisconsin La Crosse
Medical Dosimetry Program; 2014.
2. Discussion with James Schmitz, Medical Dosimetrist at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center.
August 4, 2014.
3. Discussion with Janice Holson, Medical Dosimetrist at Edwards Cancer Center. August 4, 2014.

















Appendix A
Katrina Lee
Mentoring Interview with Jim Schmitz (Transcript)
August 4, 2014
Q: Define mentoring in your own words.
A: Mentoring is being a resource and role model as someone moved through a path in life.
Q: How do you think a mentor is different than a teacher?
A: There is definitely overlap, but I think mentoring is a more defined path. A mentor helps
someone further understand the career and a teacher provides a student with a more general
overview of certain subjects.
Q: What are some characteristics or qualities that a person must possess to be an effective
mentor?
A: Patience, consistency, and knowledge of the topic. A mentor also has to be willing to take the
time to guide someone along their path.
Q: Do you think that those characteristics or qualities can be learned or is someone born with
them?
A: Some things can be developed over time. I feel that the people who are great mentors tend to
want to and are drawn to helping people.
Q: What do you expect from a mentor? What do you think is the most important aspect of
mentoring?
A: Expect: Fairness, consistency, and willing to take someone under their wing. The most
important: I think consistency.
Q: Have you had any mentors that have impacted you in your life? What did they teach you
professionally? Are you still in contact with each other?
A: Yes, someone took me under his wing when I joined the volunteer fire department.
Q: Is your mentoring style similar to that of your mentor?
A: Yes, but I think I have a higher expectation of the people I mentor than he did.
Q: How has being a mentor benefitted you?
A: It has certainly made me have a working knowledge of things. I have to keep up on
performing hand calcs and maintain a broader knowledge of things as students are full of a
broad range of questions.
Q: What do you think makes a strong mentee?
A: Wants to learn and not afraid of asking questions, not afraid to fail. I would rather have a hard
worker than someone that everything comes easy to.
Q: Do you think mentoring is important in medical dosimetry?
A: I think it's very important. It allows the community to come together, ask questions, learn
from each other's experiences, and become stronger.

















Appendix B
Katrina Lee
Mentoring Interview with Janice Holson (Transcript)
August 4, 2014
Q: Define mentoring in your own words.
A: I would define mentoring as a way to pay it forward. Taking the knowledge that you have and
share it with someone else. To help them understand the process and hopefully it will be a
stepping stone for the person to have greater success. It's an honorable thing to do taking time
and knowledge and imparting that on another person.
Q: How do you think a mentor is different than a teacher?
A: A mentor is a one-on-one type of process and more intimate. A mentor may challenge their
mentee to reach higher and further than the mentor them self.
Q: What are some characteristics or qualities that a person must possess to be an effective
mentor?
A: Knowledgeable, patient, passionate, communicator
Q: Do you think that those characteristics or qualities can be learned or is someone born with
them?
A: That's a good question, I believe anything can be learned if the desire is there. When you're
dealing with people, if they are not people oriented -- they never will be. I think most of them
are probably innate, but are certainly capable of being learned.
Q: What do you expect from a mentor? What do you think is the most important aspect of
mentoring?
A: Expect a mentor to be very knowledgeable about what they do and to teach such in a way that
someone could incorporate those skills into action. The most important part of the mentoring
relationship is trust. You have to be able to believe that they have your best interest in mind,
and that when they challenge you it's to make you grow and not make you feel stupid.
Q: Have you had any mentors that have impacted you in your life? What did they teach you
professionally? Are you still in contact with each other?
A: Yes, I had a former instructor that challenged me to stay in the program, no matter how well
or poorly I did I would be able to support my children. I lost contact with her after she moved
out of the state.
Q: Is your mentoring style similar to that of your mentor?
A: Yes
Q: How has being a mentor benefitted you?
A: I feel like I'm more of an encourager than a mentor. I've worked with a number of therapists,
and my goal is to try to give the person a bigger picture of how everything fits together.
Q: What do you think makes a strong mentee?
A: Willingness to learn, open to constructive criticism, and understands that they're there to
learn. When you enter a new field, you have to be willing to recognize that there are always
people who know more than you and you can benefit from. Be willing to be a sponge and
absorb what you can from wherever the information is coming from.
Q: Do you think mentoring is important in medical dosimetry?
A: Absolutely. Mentoring is almost essential because there is so much to learn. We need to be
willing to be mentors to each other and also listen to each other even after you're seasoned.
It's a constant learning process as with any fast growing field. You need to constantly
network and continue to be open to learning.