Michael Gilhooley is an Academic Clinical Lecturer from University College London and a previous Academy Starter Grants for Clinical Lecturers awardee. Here, he talks about his mentoring relationship with an Academy mentor, done fully remotely due to the pandemic.
From early in my career, I have been lucky enough to have had good mentorship. Such support has been invaluable in encouraging me into academic medicine. But, after moving to a new institution as an academic clinical lecturer, the Academy of Medical Sciences’ scheme provided access to mentorship for me with a quite different focus at exactly the right time.
Why did you seek out the Academy of Medical Sciences mentoring scheme?
I work in a small subspeciality (neuro-ophthalmology) which has been fantastic in allowing me to meet many of the senior investigators in my field and develop meaningful mentorship relationships with several of them. However, for me, my academic clinical lectureship represented several key transitions: not only a progression to independence, but also a change of unit and a move to align my research more closely with my clinical interests. At this time of change in my career, I felt a need to more freely discuss my plans and seek advice from someone detached (scientifically, clinically & geographically) from my situation, in order to have as independent a view as possible. The large directory of potential mentors, along with the fantastic training provided by the Academy’s mentoring workshop, made the Academy’s mentoring scheme particularly attractive.
How has the pandemic affected your mentoring relationship?
My mentor and I have been able to develop a productive relationship despite the need for virtual meetings. While the relationship began “via Zoom” out of necessity, we have chosen to continue in this way even as lockdowns have lifted. While convenience is certainly part of this (we work hundreds of miles apart), I think it has, in a way, helped our mentoring relationship by allowing me to connect with someone probably even more independent from my situation than I could have if physical meetings had been the norm!
Have there been any challenges to virtual mentoring via Zoom?
There are challenges to virtual mentoring relationships, as with most virtual interactions. Reading non-verbal cues over video, loss of spontaneity and a feeling that meetings need be more ‘structured’ are parts that I personally find challenging. Ideally we would have started out with aface-to-face meeting to neutralise a lot of these fears. However, on balance, I don’t think any of the challenges have affected us to the point that they are detrimental to our mentoring relationship.
Are there any positives of meeting your mentor remotely?
The fact that I was keen to contact a mentor outside my home institution and ideally also geographically disparate has in the end been much better suited to a virtual mentoring relationship.
What would you say to someone considering a virtual mentoring relationship?
My immediate advice would be: do it! No two mentoring relationships are the same – while some (like mine) may be perfectly suited to staying strictly virtual, others may only work face-to-face and some may well flourish with a mixture of interactions. Really the only way is to try and find out what works for you, your mentor and your relationship!
See all our mentoring case studies here and find out about our mentoring programme here.