We offer a mentoring scheme alongside the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) and the British HIV Association (BHIVA).
The GMC defines a mentor as ‘someone who will provide you with guidance and confidential support, which can be wide-ranging, covering not just clinical work but also professional relationships and career plans’. Doctors already have established frameworks and for assessment, appraisal and revalidation but the emphasis in mentoring is to provide an opportunity for the mentee to reflect and develop their own career aspirations and priorities. The benefits of mentoring in medicine are increasingly recognised and mentoring is now supported by many organisations including the GMC, the Royal College of Physicians and the BMA.
BASHH introduced a mentoring scheme in 2009 with the aim of supporting new consultants during their transition from trainee to consultant. We have received very positive feedback from newly appointed consultants about the benefits of the scheme. Since this time the scheme has expanded to merge with BHIVA to include doctors working mainly in HIV medicine and to include SAS doctors. More recently it has expanded to include us.
We are now offering mentoring for the following doctors:
- New consultants within 18 months of their first post, including locums
- Consultants returning to work after a significant career break
- Established consultants who are undergoing a period of change (for example, as a result of tendering of services) who believe they may benefit from having a mentor
- SAS doctors at any stage of their career (this includes co-mentoring)
Our mentors are experienced consultants and SAS doctors who have had specific training. The mentoring period offered is 18 months.
Join the Committee
Mentoring Committee Representative vacancies - help support our work
We have vacancies for the following positions on the Mentoring Committee. If you are a doctor working in GUM, HIV or SRH, we'd be keen to hear from you. The roles available are:
- Doctor in Training representative
- SAS doctor representative
- North Thames representative (doctor working in N Thames deanery)
- North of England representative (doctor working in Health Education North East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber, North West Yorkshire or Trent)
- Wales representative
There are also some upcoming vacancies below if you are a member of BASHH or BHIVA:
- BASHH Chair (applicants need to be a member of BASHH) – chair will be standing down later this year
- BHIVA Chair (applicants need to be a member of BHIVA) – Chair will be standing down later this year
The role involves attendance at committee meetings 2-3 times a year and matching and supporting mentor–mentee pairs. A full role description is available on request.
If you are interested in joining the committee, or would like more information, please contact Dr Emma Fox at emma.fox2@nhs.net (BASHH) Dr Adrian Palfreeman at adrian.palfreeman@uhl-tr.nhs.uk (BHIVA) or Dr Nicola Morgan at nmorgan2@nhs.net (FSRH).
Would you like to become a mentor?
Do you have what it takes to become a mentor to consultants or SAS doctors working in sexual health or HIV?
The BASHH / BHIVA / FSRH mentoring group are looking for new mentors across the UK to guide and support other doctors. If you an experienced and empathic doctor willing to give your time to support and guide a colleague, please consider becoming a mentor.
Becoming a Mentor
To be eligible you need to have worked as a SAS doctor or consultant within GUM / SRH or HIV for at least 5 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. Due to COVID-19 we do not have a date for the next course, but we would like to know of anyone who would like to attend so we can proceed when we have sufficient numbers.
If you are interested in becoming a mentor or to find out more information, please contact Dr Emma Fox at emma.fox2@nhs.net (BASHH) Dr Adrian Palfreeman at adrian.palfreeman@uhl-tr.nhs.uk (BHIVA) or Dr Nicola Morgan at nmorgan2@nhs.net (FSRH).
