The BASHH / BHIVA / FSRH Mentoring Scheme

Doctors already have established frameworks for assessment, appraisal, and revalidation. The emphasis in mentoring is to provide an opportunity for the mentee to reflect and develop their career aspirations and priorities. 

The benefits of mentoring in medicine are increasingly recognised, and mentoring is now supported by many organisations including the General Medical Council (GMC), the Royal College of Physicians, and the British Medical Association (BMA).

Previous participants that have been mentored have greatly valued the scheme. When it was initially introduced by BASHH in 2009, with the aim of supporting new consultants during their transition from trainee to consultant, it received very positive feedback. Since then it has expanded to include a wider range of doctors in a wider range of fields, including those working mainly in HIV medicine, and SRH.

You can read more about how mentoring in Sexual Health and HIV Medicine began, and the benefits of being involved.

To become a mentee, please download and complete the Mentee Application Form and email this to your regional mentoring representative, or members of the mentoring committee.

The application form is a PDF which can be edited using the ‘Fill & Sign’ function on most Adobe Acrobat programmes. It can also be printed and completed by hand.

You can also contact your regional mentoring representative, or members of the mentoring committee if you would simply like to know more about the mentoring scheme.

Preparing for your mentoring meeting

It is important as both a mentee and mentor that you have read and understood our mentoring confidentiality policy and ethical code of practice, which outlines expectations and limitations of the mentoring relationship.

We recommend that you read our checklist of suggested questions to help guide your first mentoring meeting.

Do you have what it takes to become a mentor to consultants or SAS doctors working in sexual health, SRH or HIV?

We’re looking for new mentors across the UK to guide and support other doctors. If you are an experienced and empathic doctor who is willing to give your time to support and guide a colleague, please consider becoming a mentor.

How can I become a mentor?

To be eligible you need to have worked as a SAS doctor or consultant within GUM, SRH or HIV for at least five years and have undergone training in mentoring and/or coaching.

If you have not had any previous training, we run a one-day training course which you will need to attend. Our upcoming mentoring training courses are listed below.

To apply, please download and complete the Mentor Application Form, and email as an attachment to the corresponding contact below.

For SRH: Dr Nicky Morgan at nmorgan2@nhs.net (FSRH)
For Sexual Health: Dr Emma Fox at emma.fox2@nhs.net (BASHH)
For HIV medicine: Dr Adrian Palfreeman at adrian.palfreeman@uhl-tr.nhs.uk (BHIVA)

If you would like more information, please get in touch with the above contacts.

The application form is a PDF which can be edited using the ‘Fill & Sign’ function on most Adobe Acrobat programmes. It can also be printed and completed by hand.

Following initial training, we offer ongoing support for our mentors through our regional mentoring representatives and through our mentoring discussion group sessions. These sessions have been running in London since 2014 with very good feedback from attendees.

From 2021, we will be running these sessions virtually via Zoom. The sessions offer mentors a confidential but informal space to support one another in the art of mentoring. You don’t need to have a mentee or a problem to benefit from these sessions, and all levels of experiences are welcome.

All sessions are facilitated by a consultant psychiatrist (Dr Lopa Winters) and are free of charge. It is expected that BHIVA, BASHH, and FSRH mentors will attend at least one session over a three-year period as part of their ongoing development as mentors.

Upcoming mentoring discussion groups

• Friday 13 May 2022, 14:00-15:30: The end of a mentoring journey
• Monday 11 July 2022, 18:00-19:30: TBC

You can find more information on our Mentoring Discussion Groups document.

Places are limited to 12 per session. If you would like to attend, please email Dr Emma Fox at emma.fox2@nhs.net with details of the session you would like to attend.

Resources for mentors

• Mentoring Introduction Document
• Mentoring Confidentiality Policy
• Suggested Checklist for First Mentoring Meeting
• Ethical Code of Practice for Mentoring

The BASHH, BHIVA, and FSRH Mentoring Committee meets two to three times a year. It aims to match and support mentor–mentee pairs.

The full list of our committee members can be found here.