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Wael Mekhael
Mentoring Activity
July 31, 2015
Effective Mentoring As a Medical Dosimetrist
Mentor is a wise and trusted counselor, mentoring is a relationship between the manatee
and mentor based on mutual desire, to provide development opportunities for both partners
through sharing and reflection, as mentors has a broad range of knowledge and experience.
Mentoring is very important in the profession of medical dosimetry, an effective mentor
guides and advises a learner to go from being dependent to independent.1 The profession of a
medical dosimetry evolved in terms of both profession and education, the role of a medical
dosimetrist is to fulfill the need of the medical community by effectively mentoring.
Effective mentoring consist of step by step teaching, active participation in treatment
planning, provides academic instructions and practice in a clinical setting, effective mentors
impact the younger generation by generating influential conversations and demonstrating a sense
of caring. The approach of an effective mentor is holistic; modeled on scientific excellence,
responsibility and integrity. Medical physicist Ganesh Goswami (oral communication, July 31,
2015) stated that an effective medical dosimetrist should care for the people he teaches.
Medical dosimetry mentors are trained to project independence among students to think
and make decision independently. An effective mentors demonstrate good examples, uses
effective speaking, promotes self-learning, helps navigate the problems and trails, demonstrates
integrity and provides positive environment, and also show interest and desire to provide one-onone help and guidance.2 Medical dosimetrist Kai Wong (oral communication, July 31, 2015)
stated that an effective mentor takes his role seriously and feel responsible for the success of the
mentees.
Effective mentoring require mentor commitment, the mentor should make sure, the
mentoring he is providing is effective and has lasting value, through his ability and willingness to
communicate with the mentee and clearly explain what he knows. Mentor should outline the
most important key points he want to focus on, and should have a plan for imparting the
information to the mentee in an effective way.
There are differences between mentoring and teaching. Effective mentoring helps in the
process of reaching the goals, and provides the needed support during the process. Mentoring is

an abstract method of building competence in the most general skills with indirect interactions,
this requires effective mentors to provide motivation and indirectly demonstrate independence
and proficiency in clinical practice.
Teaching focuses on imparting the required information and knowledge through
explanation and instruction, it gives a one way flow to learning. The relationship of teacher and
student lasts till the learning period only, and it is directed towards a particular agenda while
mentor has not particular agenda. A teacher demonstrates a way to do something but a mentor fill
in the gaps that occur through obstacles and challenges, the mentor builds capability for a student
to unleash his wisdom. Self reliance and encouragement is promoted by every great mentor for a
student.
In summary, effective medical dosimetry mentors have a larger perspective that helps
students and provide them with useful suggestions and bring up points that the student would
otherwise not consider. Effective mentoring is very important for a medical dosimetry student,
effective mentoring leads to academic success and career achievement, as students learn from
their mentors by questioning, discussing and receiving feedback. Mentorship play an important
role in the profession of medical dosimetry, to teach the new generation how to carry out the
profession, and become effective mentors in future as the dosimetry profession is continuously
progressing.

References
1. Lenards N. Mentoring. [SoftChalk]. La Crosse, WI: UW-L Medical Dosimetry Program;
2015
2. Baerlocher M, OBrien J, Newton M, Gautam T, Noble J. The mentor -mentee relationship in
academic medicine. EUR J INTERN MED. 2011;22(6):166-167.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejim.2011.05.018

Appendix A

Wael Mekhael
Mentoring Interview with Ganesh Goswami (Transcript) July 31, 2015
Q: Define mentoring in your own words?
A: It is creating a relationship that is beneficial for both the mentor and mentee. Where
participant receive help to develop and achieve his goals following the footsteps of the mentor.
Q: How is a mentor different from a teacher?
A: The role of a teacher ends with college, but the role of a mentor extends far beyond the
educational life, encompassing the entire professional life of a person. A mentor may teach a
person through practical examples and real life situations.
Q: Define effective mentoring or what separates effective mentoring from ineffective
mentoring?
A: If a mentor-mentee relationship would lack trust, it would lose its effectiveness. A mentor
needs to be friendly, but he is not a friend, so there has to a professional distance between a
mentor and mentee so that a mentee may take his mentor seriously and follow his advice.
Q: How can someone become a more effective mentor? What skills do they need to have?
A: Mentor should be able to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of the mentee, should be
able to empathies with mentee, give real examples from his own life
Q: What recommendation can you make to help someone become a more effective mentor?
A: Mentor should be open, honest and empathetic. It is highly important to help your mentee
have trust in you or else he would not open up to you completely There should be no discrepancy
in what mentor says and what he does.
Q: Can anyone be a mentor?
A: I dont think so, patience is a key, and not everyone has patience. There are good dosimetrists
out there but they may not be good mentors.
Q: Have you ever had a conflict with your mentor?

A: Conflict occurs, it help understand each other.

Q: Can a mentor be from another profession other than dosimetry?
A: This is certainly possible; mentor can be medical physicist, oncologist, or any experienced
professional individual.
Q: When does a mentoring relationship end?
A: The relationship generally evolves into a strong friendship, in which the two see each other as
peers.
Q: How you see the future of dosimetry?
A: With time things change. I think prospect and future of job opportunity in medical dosimetry
is still very good. Market is not flat. New technologies will evolve and so is the demand.

Appendix B
Wael Mekhael
Mentoring Interview with Kai Wong (Transcript) July 31, 2015
Q: Define mentoring in your own words?
A: Mentoring is when two parties trust each other and one party acts as a guide to the other,
mentor prepares students so at the end they become a team member in radiation oncology to
serve cancer patients.
Q: How is a mentor different from a teacher?
A: Teacher is teaching students in an academic setting. Mentor work with both students and
professional by means of his experience. Mentor is a guiding light.
Q: Define effective mentoring or what separates effective mentoring from ineffective
mentoring?
A: Trust and clear communication are like the backbone of effective mentoring. Without trust
this relationship is not possible. A mentor who is not generous and honest will fail to do any
good to his mentee.
Q: How can someone become a more effective mentor? What skills do they need to have?
A: Strong communication skills, honesty and commitment. They must have the confidence to
share their experience and knowledge with their mentee. There is always room for improvement
and learning is a lifelong process.
Q: What recommendation can you make to help someone become a more effective mentor?

A: Be honest with your mentee. Give him right advice no matter if he may like or not. Your
honesty will do him good.
Q: Can anyone be a mentor?
A: I think so; everyone can use his experience to help others.
Q: Have you ever had a conflict with your mentor?
A: Never major ones, resolving the issue as soon as possible is important to maintain the
relationship.
Q: Can a mentor be from another profession other than dosimetry?
A: You can have more than one mentor, more viewpoints, information, and perspectives.

Q: When does a mentoring relationship end?

A: Respect your mentor. If he wants to end the relationship and you don't, you must honor his
wish.
Q: How you see the future of dosimetry?
A: Outcomes indicate that significant changes will occur in the job structure and content of being
a practicing medical dosimetrist; I don't think schools are pumping out a lot of students into this
field, if I'm not mistaken. There are only a limited number of colleges accredited for dosimetry;
therefore, it seems that saturation of this field is far from now