need help mentorinb a HS student

[Anonymous]

So, my kids are young and I'm usually on general parenting, but i have been assigned a HS student from an inner city school to mentor. I'm a physician. Some of her time is spent doing admin type work and then I have her for a few hours a week. I have gotten her to come see some patients err bits with me (pediatric practice), but am wondering if I can/should assign her some reading. I'm thinking books about becoming a physician or books with ethical problems (there was that one Jodi piccault about the sister refusing to give a bone marrow transplant to her sister).... too much?
Anything else you would suggest?

My practice sees about 90% low income inner city families.

[Anonymous]

You should really talk to the mentoring coordinator about this, because I think you're completely on the wrong track, 100%.

Assign reading? What about taking her to Starbucks and TALKING with her? Take her to see Wild, and then talk about the idea of exploring the world to find yourself, and the other themes in the movie. Get to know HER.

[Anonymous]

She's in a pre-professional mentoring program. She's supposed to be getting a taste of the medical profession. I am pretty sure I'm not supposed to take her off hospital grounds, and my clinical load is pretty heavy, but maybe I do need to have an hour with her to get to know her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She's in a pre-professional mentoring program. She's supposed to be getting a taste of the medical profession. I am pretty sure I'm not supposed to take her off hospital grounds, and my clinical load is pretty heavy, but maybe I do need to have an hour with her to get to know her.

But she's in high school. Was she put in this program or did she fight to get into it? Does she desperately want to be a doctor, or did she not know what to say when asked what she wants to be as an adult and tossed out "doctor?"? Yes, you need to get to know this girl before you know what direction to go in with her. You need to know how personally driven she is. Show her pictures of you from college, if you have any, show her the books you studied from in biology and chemistry or your notebooks from then. Talk to her about when it got hard, what made it hard and how you pushed through anyway.

[Anonymous]

Was this a choice you made? You said "I've been assigned" which makes it sound like maybe it was forced upon you?
If so, this is a shitty mentoring program.

[Anonymous]

OP here - she had to apply to get into the mentoring program and had to have an interest in medicine to get matched into a medical program. She is a mentee of our clinic, but the physician who is her most senior contact in the clinic.

I mentor college students and medical students and get great reviews for teaching and mentoring, but a HSer is new to me, hence my post.

I was hoping parents of HS kids would help me out with what they would want a mentor to provide to their child.

[Anonymous]

** I meant, I'm her most senior contact person in the clinic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She's in a pre-professional mentoring program. She's supposed to be getting a taste of the medical profession. I am pretty sure I'm not supposed to take her off hospital grounds, and my clinical load is pretty heavy, but maybe I do need to have an hour with her to get to know her.

NP here. You do.

I've tutored adults for the GED and I've taught in low SES high schools. You cannot underestimate the extent to which establishing a personal connection with a mentee is necessary before you can show or teach her anything. This is partly developmental because she's a teenager, partly social because I assume she's from a low SES background, and partly practical, because until you know her better (interests, abilities) you risk talking over her head.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - she had to apply to get into the mentoring program and had to have an interest in medicine to get matched into a medical program. She is a mentee of our clinic, but the physician who is her most senior contact in the clinic.

I mentor college students and medical students and get great reviews for teaching and mentoring, but a HSer is new to me, hence my post.

I was hoping parents of HS kids would help me out with what they would want a mentor to provide to their child.

I AM the parent of high school kids. But you're not answering the question. Did SHE apply or did someone push her through? Does she TRULY have an interest in being in the medical field or did she just not know what to say, so tossed out doctor?

[Anonymous]

OP here - she applied and it was competitive. She had to have a strong interest in medicine - especially bc we ran into problems with the last intern they sent us and we had to cut her time short.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She's in a pre-professional mentoring program. She's supposed to be getting a taste of the medical profession. I am pretty sure I'm not supposed to take her off hospital grounds, and my clinical load is pretty heavy, but maybe I do need to have an hour with her to get to know her.

There's either face time, or you aren't mentoring.

[Anonymous]

I would want someone to talk to my kid about what is involved in becoming a doctor. Why grades are important. What the hard parts of medical school are. What difficulties and advantages being a woman presents.

[Anonymous]

It's great to talk about the process as PP mentions. I'd also want my DD to understand that as important as school is making connections with people -- mentors, teachers who will write recommendations, etc. Sometimes smart kids don't need to ask for a lot of help and then thus haven't developed the relationships/networking/story-telling side of their application package (for whatever -- school, jobs, etc.)

I also see that my son (who wants to be a doctor) is excited when he sees actual cases or learns actual skills -- how to take BP, how to think thru a diagnosis, what to look for in an x-ray, etc.

Connected to this is noticing and explicitly calling out talent and skills -- "hey your BP was spot on" or "wow, you really notice the little details in the x-ray, you have good observation skills.." This is what makes kids think they are capable.

And, lastly, encouraging questions and discussion.

[Anonymous]

You sound nice OP. Ignore the haters.

I think a talk with her would really benefit her. Ask her how she came to apply for this opportunity and where she sees herself and what challenges she expects. You could tell her about what grades she'll need, what classes she should take and maybe talk about pop cultures view of doctors or what she sees on tv may or may not be reality. I think she'd enjoy hearing about "a day in the life" or what your daily routine is and why you got into medicine.

[Anonymous]

A bit off topic, but how would one find a program like this?

My dd has been talking about med school since she was 8 and now at 14, we still can't find any programs like this where she can get actual experience to a hospital environment.