Standing on the shoulders of giants

A PhD, as I now know from my first year, can be a lonely experience. I was naively expecting an experience closer to my master’s degree where I was a part of a lab group who shared an office. But doing a PhD as a CDRF is very different and if it were not for my mentors, who are also PhD students, I know I would not have been as successful.

You can find lots of information on the internet and RCN about mentorship, but this is all mainly focused on how to be a mentor. There is less about the experience of being a 'mentee'. Interestingly in a leadership course I participated in the year prior to my PhD we were advised in a mentorship relationship to set out the rules and the goals relationship, rather than relying on the mentor to establish these things. So when both of my fellow PhD candidates approached me about a mentor/buddy relationship I was unsure as to who would set the rules or the guidelines. It turns out that what happened was a much more organic process.

I ended up with two mentors. Kate Lippiett who shares a supervisor and Carolina Gonçlaves who like me is a CRDF. At first I thought having two would be a bit overkill and hard to manage, but they complement each other perfectly.

First a bit about them both. Kate shares not only the same main supervisor, but we also share a background of nursing and a central theme of Burden of Treatment for our PhD projects. In the beginning she was incredibly helpful with practical hints and tips about maximizing my supervision sessions and PhD experience. She has a good network of contacts and experiences that she happily shared with me making my first year a lot easier. With time relationship became more established we now share ideas and learning which is facilitating my progression, making my project stronger and better. Our conversations on burden of treatment challenge me to think deeper and read more; she can point me in directions I had not yet thought to go. Further, she helpfully shares her work with me to help inspire and guide my own work. I find a conversation with her challenges my ideas and project in ways that I will be forever grateful for. She gives advice, direction, support, while coaching and motivating me.

At the beginning I didn't see that Carolina and I had much in common, other than the fact we were both CDRF's. In my head I decided our relationship would be centred on the navigating the challenges of being a CDRF. She is a physio and her main theme of her PhD was different than mine, so I wasn't expecting her to be able to help and mentor me in the same way that Kate could. This has proven to be far from the truth. Yes, she advises and guides me on CRDF specific issues: from struggling with PGR tracker, to tripartite meetings between clinical and academic teams, and career goal setting. Similar to Kate she is great at challenging my ideas, my methodology, and my project. Sometimes the difference in her perspective helps me to see a creative solution to something I'm struggling with. She understands and shares my career goal of being a clinical academic and the challenges that presents. She too motivates through a combination of advice, training suggestions, and support.

However, this isn't about them. This is about me and things I did to be a good mentee.

1. Schedule regular meetings: agree how often these should be but remember to be flexible. Both my mentors are still actively completing their PhD's, but are a few years a head so their time is valuable and limited.

2. Value their time. I'm not saying you need to come up with an agenda, but think of specific things that you are struggling with and pick one or two per session that you want their advice on. They have loads they can help you with, but they too want their help to be valuable not just information overload.

3. Share your experience with them. They understand what this process is like and will be able to sympathize better more than anyone else in your life. However don't just share the bad experiences share the good stuff too!

These tips have helped me and in writing this blog I’ve asked for feedback on me as a mentee as well as to have both my mentors agree to be in this post. This is what they had to say about me:

Kate Lippiett, “I was asked to ‘mentor’ Rosalynn by our mutual supervisor. Like Rosalynn, I was unsure how this relationship would develop. I began by sharing practical learning points about how to negotiate the labyrinthine administrative processes of the first year of the PhD. However, as Rosalynn says, our relationship has developed from sharing practical tips to discussions of deeper issues around our topic. I have personally found the relationship very fruitful. It is useful to have someone who understands the process you are going through. The similarity of our topic means that we can challenge each other’s thought processes in an informed way. Finally, it is good to be able to look back at the earlier stages of my PhD journey that Rosalynn is now traversing and to remind myself that I have achieved something in the last 18 months!”

Carolina Gonçlaves, “It is strange this idea of mentors. I have my own mentors. They show me a world in different colours and expand my horizons in a way that I did not know possible. And yet, I get that, in the exact same amount from my mentees. It feels almost uncomfortable to call them mentees when I learn so much from them.”

Both of these colleagues have been incredible mentors in my first year and I look forward to our continued relationship. I hope of to take the lessons they taught me, as I am now a mentor myself. They have both read drafts, listened to my drama, and generally been an understanding, guiding, and companion on the first year of this experience. My advice if you don't have one already find yourself a mentor. Regardless of their similarity or differences to you and your project if they are completing a PhD within your faculty they will understand your experience more than anyone else will and they can shed a positive and supportive light on your pathway.

Other reading (I found helpful/interesting on mentorship)

What Mentors Wish Their Mentees Knew by Vineet Chopra

The care and maintenance of your adviser by Hugh Kearns and Maria Gardiner