New mentoring platform

COLLEGE LAUNCHES NEW MENTORING PLATFORM

The new RCGP Mentoring platform has been running since Spring 2021. It's a peer-led development tool designed to support members’ career growth and progress by matching GP mentors with mentees based on similar attributes, mutual interests, skills, expertise, and locality. Resources on the platform include; bi-annual learning events, and monthly information digests.

Mentees are benefiting from one-to-one support and productive discussions about career successes and challenges, advice on how to develop strengths and overcome weaknesses at work, and guidance on opportunities for professional development and advancement.

One mentee using the platform is Dr Oluwatoyin Oyelakin-Elusode, a newly qualified GP, practising in the West Midlands, and part of the South East Thames Faculty, said:

“For me, the mentoring scheme was my leverage to get my passion back. The fatigue of training and juggling family responsibilities, and the increasing demand on GPs with overstretched resource had subtly eroded my passion for general practice. I enjoy medicine, but realised I needed someone to help me see how I could carve a career in the overwhelming circumstances of current general practice. Luckily, my GP mentor is also a trained coach and licensed in lifestyle medicine. The mutual respect, understanding and structure to the meetings is great. Using the smart goal approach, I discussed my strengths and areas of weakness and how to optimise and overcome these. Simply having someone validating your experience and steering you forward with your strengths in mind is invaluable. I highly recommend the RCGP mentoring scheme to everyone. There's a plethora of mentors with varied experiences to glean from. I get the feeling I'll become a mentor too – out of sheer gratitude.”

Dr Oluwatoyin Oyelakin-Elusode, mentee

Mentors have also been able to develop skills in personal leadership and coaching styles and expand their professional networks.

“I have found the Mentoring platform easy to use, and very helpful,” said mentor Amanda Robinson.

“I found my mentee interesting and they just needed me to be supportive and to encourage them to persevere with the plan they had already set out. Thank you to the RCGP for the usefulness of this platform. It provides an easy way for me to be supportive even though I have now retired.”

More information about how to register as an RCGP mentor or mentee is available on the College's website.