EAN 2024 Career Development Session – What is Mentorship?
The EAN Mentorship Programme helps early-career neurologists connect with top neurologists, teachers, and researchers in Europe. It helps new neurologists (mentees) focus on their goals and reach their full potential, while at the same time helping mentors to improve their mentoring skills, understand the challenges younger colleagues face, and contribute to the field of neurology.
This year’s mentorship workshop was held during the annual 10th Congress of the European Academy of Neurology, in Helsinki on Sunday, 30 June, and was led by the Mentorship Task-Force members Selma Aybek (Switzerland), Matthieu Perrenoud (Switzerland), David Schreier (United States) and Irina Vlad (Romania). The morning started light, with coffee, snacks and a short group activity.
The workshop aimed to show the importance of mentoring and the benefits it brings. Participants learned the differences between mentoring, tutoring, coaching, and sponsoring, and discussed what makes a good mentee and mentor, as well as how to avoid common problems in mentoring relationships.
Another highlight was the Q&A with two mentor-mentee-pairs from the previous matching rounds: mentor Marie Vidailhet (France) and her mentee Alexandra Boogers (Belgium); and mentor Giorgia Sciacca (Italy) and her mentee Margarita Kholodova (Ukraine). They offered insights into their effective relationships and offered helpful advice on how to make the mentorship year beneficial for both the mentor and the mentee.
We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who participated and shared their experiences!
Although the workshop was not recorded, you can watch the webcast from 2021 to learn more about the programme.
Are you interested in becoming a mentor or would you like to apply to be a mentee?
The application deadline for mentees for the next matching round is 15 September 2024. Matched pairs will be informed at the beginning of November. You can find more information on our Mentorship website.
