Mentoring Expectations

An important element of the Postdoctoral Master's Degree Program in clinical and translational science is the formative relationship established between you and your mentor.

This relationship forms the basis for your clinical research development, and your mentor is your primary source of formal and informal acculturation as a clinical investigator. Mentors also play a critical role in helping you identify and pursue appropriate education, training and other career-development goals.

Mentoring agreement

As with any relationship, scholar-mentor relationships are not immune to conflicts. To assist you and your mentor in defining expectations and minimizing miscommunications that can lead to conflicts, you and your mentor are required to complete and submit the Initial Agreement — Expectations for the CCaTS Scholar Mentoring Relationship form (PDF) with your Postdoctoral Master's Degree Program application.

The agreement is designed to assist you and your mentor in establishing expectations for your relationship and provoke discussion in areas critical for your development.

Mentoring resources

The Office of Applied Scholarship and Education Science intranet site (must be logged in to the Mayo Clinic network) offers free online tools and resources to assist you in preparing and developing your research mentoring relationships and skills.

HR Connect offers more resources on general mentorship. Visit HR Connect (must be logged into the Mayo Clinic network) and search for "mentoring."

Additionally, a number of courses and seminars are available to Mayo Clinic staff and students to build interpersonal, professional and mentoring skills. Search for mentoring modules in My Learning.