Mentoring in Healthcare: A Rewarding Side-gig



Contents:

  • Mentoring in Healthcare: A Lucrative Side Gig Today

  • Who Can Be a Healthcare Side-Gig Mentor?

  • Balancing Clinical Practice and Mentorship

  • Steps to Launch a Side-gig Mentorship Practice

  • Tools and Resources

  • Digital Platforms for Side-gig Mentoring

  • Networking and Support

  • Potential Growth and Developments

  • Anastomos in The Ongoing Role of Side-gig Mentorship in Healthcare


 

Mentoring in Healthcare: A Lucrative Side Gig Today


No matter where your financial goals lie, having a side hustle can help. Apart from being a full-time work option, tutoring or mentoring is a sought-after side gig today. Mentoring in healthcare has assumed more of a professional role than an academic one, as known before.

Moreover, the last five years have seen high turnover rates among healthcare professionals. A medical mentorship program in addition to many others, has proven to be an intelligent, efficient, and cost-effective way of retaining employees.

To learn more about the best practices and challenges in coaching and mentoring in healthcare, in India, feel free to read our article, “The Evolution of Medical Mentoring: The Trends and the Best Practices.” Today we will walk you through industry insights, tools, and resources to manage medical mentoring and a running practice dexterously.


Who Can Be a Healthcare Side-Gig Mentor?


Almost any healthcare professional with the credentials can opt for mentoring. Doctors, dentists, nurses, and therapists with post-graduate degrees can play the role of health mentors. Educating graduates, fellows, and even colleagues in academic or practical programs can be rewarding both professionally and personally.

So, if you are looking to teach, step up skills, or stay connected with your good old college days—mentoring young minds could be a great way!


Steps to Launch a Healthcare Mentorship Program


Understanding your personal and professional goals can help you start a mentorship program. Here is a conventional way to go about the process:


  • First, define your mission and establish SMART goals. This includes understanding why you want to mentor and turning your vision into specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound goals to bring insight.

  • Step two: through efficient advertising and education.

  • Step three: Based on profiles and preferences, match mentors and mentees.

  • Fourth step: Give structure, resources, and tools to your program

  • Step five: Assess feedback and the reviews for positive growth.


Formats for Mentoring:


  • Traditional one-on-one mentoring.

  • Group mentoring for many healthcare mentees in a given time


Running an impactful medical mentorship program isn’t child's play. Though it is often ranked as a fractional position, engagement and retention in mentoring in healthcare can create a lasting structure and accountability in the program.


Tools and Resources


  • Digital Platforms for Medical Mentoring


  • Virtual Meeting and Communication Tools:

Digital platforms offer video conferencing, messaging, and collaboration tools that make it easy for mentors and mentees to connect regardless of geographical constraints. This is especially valuable for healthcare professionals with busy schedules.


  • Learning Management System (LMS):

A hospital can implement an LMS to provide interactive training modules, videos, and quizzes. Seasoned healthcare staff can mentor new hires by assigning relevant training modules and tracking their progress through the LMS.


  • Electronic Health Records (EHR):

You can access EHR systems with the necessary permissions to teach. Experienced clinicians can mentor medical students on navigating and documenting patient information within these EHR systems, ensuring accurate and efficient record-keeping.


  • Health Information Exchange (HIE) Platform:

Health information exchange (HIE) refers to the electronic sharing of healthcare data among healthcare facilities/ professionals in a specific region, community, or hospital system, through a cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution. Health Information Networks (HIN) are the aggregate term for the entities involved in this data exchange.

Mentors can teach junior clinicians how to access and share patient data responsibly through such platforms.


  • Networking and Support


  • Professional Associations:

Collaboration with professionals/ guest speakers and expert hands-on training facilitate mentorship programs.

These associations can also add guidelines and best practices in healthcare.


  • Peer Mentorship Groups:

Creating peer mentorship groups within healthcare settings can be valuable. These groups allow for informal mentoring among colleagues


  • Online Forums and Communities:

There are numerous online forums and communities where healthcare professionals can seek advice, share experiences, and upgrade skills. Platforms like social media, healthcare-specific websites, and forums can serve as valuable networking resources.


Balancing Clinical Practice and Mentorship


Coaching and mentoring in healthcare can be challenging. Balancing clinical practice, service obligations, patient interaction, skill development, and professional teaching may keep your plates full. If you are not cautious, burnout can quickly set in.


Here are a few ways to balance clinical practice and academic responsibilities like a pro:


  • Include Diverse Teaching Tools

Making use of the different teaching methods can help you save time and also deliver quality mentorship. For example, provide access to online resources, textbooks, and research materials to your mentees to help them with self-learning.


Pre-recorded courses, lectures, and real cases can also keep your mentoring in healthcare going in your absence.


  • Set Timelines and Adhere to Them

Plan your calendar for the month ahead of time. Schedule training programs on weekends and after work hours to prevent any unnecessary disruptions. Remember to orient your students to attend training days on time and complete tasks as allotted to prevent any unnecessary delays.


  • Delegate Work

Building a team over a period of time can greatly reduce the work burden. For example, if you are an academician at a medical school, you can ask your residents and fellows to volunteer to help with assignment correction. This benefits both parties: your job gets done faster, and the residents improve their expertise.


  • Dedicate Time for Feedback

Feedback and reviews are vital to understanding loopholes and improving. Automated feedback forms can help the process.


  • Upgrade Personal Teaching Skills

Continuously improve your teaching and mentorship skills by participating in workshops, courses, or conferences related to medical education and mentorship.


Develop your communication skills, including active listening and empathy, to better understand your mentees' needs and provide the support they require.


Anastomos in The Ongoing Role of Side-gig Mentorship in Healthcare


For a healthcare professional juggling between a regular work profile and mentoring, kickstarting such healthcare mentorship programs gets exacting. What if we told you there was a way to accomplish all this remotely with a single click?

Anatomos, as an end-to-end, full-spectrum solution for healthcare career development, provides the value-added service of 'mentoring in healthcare'. We assist you in connecting with industry leaders for a groundbreaking career. If you are willing to commit your time and have a genuine desire to teach others, you can opt for mentorship.

Create a compelling portfolio to highlight your skills, and our algorithm will match you with the ideal mentee without costing you a dime for hiring agencies or pricey tools. If you are looking to jump on the mentoring bandwagon, feel free to Sign up or log in. Write to us at [email protected] or call us at 9972541134 to get more information.