THE ALLIANCE
Mentorship Program
Establish a network of support with fellow professionals who will inspire, encourage and support your career success. Whether you’re a mentor or a mentee, you’ll find this program to be an extensively rewarding component of your career.
Donation and transplantation professionals are invited to join us now to connect, collaborate and boost your professional development through The Alliance Mentorship Program. Whether you’re a mentor or a mentee, or both, you’ll find this program to be an extensively rewarding component of your transplant career.
This program engages experienced professionals throughout the country with individuals who are new to their career or role in donation and transplant, to support them as they immerse themselves in this lifesaving community. The goal of this program is to establish a network of peer support that inspires, encourages, and paves the way to career success and longevity in a high-stakes career field.
Mentees are offered three options for participation:
- One-to-one mentorship: Partnerships that enable participants to engage in ongoing mentoring sessions that span over a period of 12 months or beyond for professional growth and guidance.
- Situational mentorship: One-time mentoring sessions that enable participants to learn a variety of skills and knowledge from a range of experts within the field.
- Themed Group-Mentorship (coming soon!): Join the discussion! Gain access to a variety of discussion forums that focus on specific topics, challenges or emerging trends impacting the community of practice.
Mentors, upon enrollment, will be added to a program-wide database that will make them accessible to all participants. As a mentee, we welcome you to take advantage of one or all three options for participation offering you a unique opportunity to work simultaneously with multiple mentors.
Your success is very important to us, so to ensure we are doing our part to meet your needs, we encourage you to take advantage of our new cloud-based, mobile-friendly platform which offers a wide variety of resources and discussion prompts for your one-on-one meetings.
Information for Mentors
The ideal mentor is an experienced professional within the Donation and Transplantation field who demonstrates a positive, encouraging attitude. They dedicate their valuable time to support their peers and provide unique insight and perspective. They are not consultants or problem solvers. Rather, they walk alongside their colleagues by bridging their colleagues to other professionals and resources, listening and encouraging, sharing their personal knowledge and experience and role modeling.
If you are experiencing any concerns in your mentorship or have questions, please contact us immediately so we can support you.
If the match isn’t working and/or if you need support, be sure to contact us rather than waiting until after the mentorship period is over to voice your concerns. Email [email protected] or call 786-866-8730.
Frequently Asked Questions
Mentoring is the development of a voluntary, one-on-one mentorship between a mentee and an experienced transplant professional for the purpose of strengthening career and personal development.
Mentees are employees of any transplant organization within the United States, who is new to his/her transplant career, or new to his/her specific role. Mentees are developing professionals, who are eager for career guidance and advice. They often need encouragement and support as they learn the ins and outs of our complex field, and learn how to manage their time, workload, patient relationships, etc.
The Alliance strives to match mentors with mentees after they have been approved as a mentor. If no mentees are currently seeking mentorship, the mentor will remain in the database until they choose to withdraw or a mentee has been identified.
It depends on the type of mentorship offered.
For one-to-one mentorship, mentors agree to a minimum of a one-year mentorship. They may choose to stay on longer if desired, provided they have abided by the established code of conduct. In general, we recommend spending 3-5 hours together a month, which can include phone calls, video conferencing, e-mail communication, networking opportunities or mock interviews. Keep in mind, mentors and mentees can be located anywhere in the country, so components like face-to face meetings or in-person professional networking events may not be a possibility. The mentor and mentee can determine at the end of six months how they want to conclude or continue with their relationship.
For group mentorship, the mentor agrees to abide by the code of conduct and offer their expertise by posting to questions posed a closed discussion board.
For situational mentorship, the mentor agrees to abide by the code of conduct and offer their expertise and knowledge to an individual mentee for a specific situation or skill over a limited amount of time.
Once a mentee completes his or her application, The Alliance will evaluate their information and match them to the pool of eligible mentors. Mentors and mentees will be matched as closely as possible, based on areas of work, specialty and needs of the mentee. To complete the matching process as expeditiously as possible, your prompt response during these requests is appreciated.
Mentors will only be paired once they have completed their training and code-of-conduct.
For one-on-one and situational mentorship, once a mentor and mentee have been paired, The Alliance will introduce the mentor and mentee via email and an introductory call between both parties will occur, following an outline of initial parameters to discuss and determine the ongoing mentorship agreement, e.g. frequency of calls, length and method of calls, etc. After this introductory call has occurred, it will be between the mentor and mentee to connect based on their agreed-upon method and frequency.
For group mentorship, the vetted mentor will simply be provided with access to the mentor and mentee discussion board and will be provided with guidelines on posting expectations.
Mentors should work with their mentee(s) to determine expected goals and what kind of support will be most useful— feedback related to specific career components or challenges, general career advice, information on professional development, technical information, etc.
We will do our best to ensure that every mentor has an opportunity to participate; however, we may occasionally experience a limited pool of mentors/mentees. We appreciate your patience and flexibility as we work diligently to ensure you are paired with a mentor who can help you in your career journey.
For any mentor waiting to be matched, we encourage the participation in the group mentorship to share your knowledge on the discussion board.
Information for Mentees
An Alliance Mentor is an experienced professional (clinical or otherwise) within the donation and transplantation field, demonstrating a positive, encouraging attitude. They dedicate valuable time to supporting their peers, providing unique insight and perspective. They are not consultants or problem solvers. Rather, they walk alongside their mentee by connecting them with resources and knowledgable colleagues. They are empathic listeners and share their personal knowledge, experience and guidance for the enhanced professional development of their peers.
If you are experiencing any concerns in your mentorship or have questions, please contact us immediately so we can support you.
If the match isn’t working and/or if you need support, be sure to contact us rather than waiting until after the mentorship period is over to voice your concerns. Email [email protected] or call 786-866-8730.
Frequently Asked Questions
Mentoring is the development of a voluntary, one-on-one mentorship between a new transplant professional or a transplant professional new to their role and an experienced transplant professional (mentor) for the purpose of strengthening career development.
Mentors are experienced transplant professionals, serving in various career capacities and transplant centers across the country. Mentors work with mentees to define goals and provide guidance to achieve these goals.
For one-on-one mentoring, we recommend spending at least two hours together a month (recommended 3-5 hours per month), which can include phone calls, video conferencing, face-to-face meetings (where available), or by attending networking opportunities hosted by The Alliance. This mentorship will typically last for a year or longer if needed.
For situational mentoring, we recommend spending at least two hours together a month (recommended 3-5 hours per month), which can include phone calls, video conferencing, face-to-face meetings (where available), or by attending networking opportunities hosted by The Alliance. This mentorship will occur for the duration needed until the skill/situation has been sufficiently addressed. This may be accomplished in one call or may take a few calls.
Complete the online application form in full and the code of conduct. The Alliance will work to ensure you are paired with a mentor who matches your specific career development needs as closely as possible.
Mentees will only be paired once they have completed their code of conduct.
Once a mentee completes his or her application and the application period has closed, The Alliance will evaluate their information and issue matching requests to our pool of eligible mentors. Mentors must complete a training prior to introductions to their mentees. Thus, there may be a 4-6 week waiting period for the matching to occur from the time the application deadline has closed. Mentors and mentees will be matched as closely as possible, based on areas of work, specialty and needs of the mentee. To complete the matching process as expeditiously as possible, your prompt response during these requests is appreciated.
Once a mentor and mentee have been paired, The Alliance will conduct an introductory call between both parties and will facilitate the call to ensure parameters of communication and goals of the mentorship are discussed and agreed upon. After this introductory call, it will be between the mentor and mentee to connect based on their agreed-upon method and frequency.
We will do our best to ensure that every mentee has an opportunity to participate; however, we may occasionally experience a limited pool of mentors/mentees. We appreciate your patience and flexibility as we work diligently to ensure you are paired with a mentor who can help you in your career journey.
Alliance Mentorship Program Workgroup Members
The Alliance would like to thank the members of the Mentorship Program Workgroup who have contributed their time and expertise to develop this Alliance offering:
- Lead: Erin Wells, RN, BSN, CCTC, CPN, Director, Hepatology & Liver Transplant, Loma Linda University Medical Center (CA)
- Cecile Aguayo, RN, BSN, Manager, Abdominal Transplant Program, Solid Organ Transplant Programs, University of Utah Hospital and Clinics (UT
- Jonathan Carrier, Director of Clinical Operations, LifeQuest Organ Recovery Services
- Aimee Hagerty, MSN, Transplant Administrator & Director of Education, Transplant Program, UPMC Hamot (PA)
- Lee Nolen, Clinical Services Manager, Tennessee Donor Services
- Robin Ohkagawa, Regional Trainer, New England Donor Services
- Hope Weed, Assistant Manager of Recovery Services, LifeLink of Georgia
- A special thank you to Anne Murphy, MBA, FACHE, Administrative Director, Transplant Services, University of Michigan Medical Center (MI), who was part of the original workgroup to develop this program.
Are you new to transplant?
If you are new to transplant and are looking for an interactive, online learning program, visit The Alliance Transplant Onboarding Program or OnboardingU™ webpage and learn more about this new and innovative e-learning initiative!