A Blueprint for Mentorship

Gemma Smith, Muaaz Tahir, Shreeram Deshpande, Brett Ellis, David Richardson, Khalid Baloch:
The Birmingham Trauma and Orthopaedic Mentorship Committee

Mentorship for doctors is a recent and welcomed addition to the progression and improvement of a surgeon’s career. It is a way in which an experienced, empathic surgeon can ‘payback’ to their junior counterparts, through listening, to help guide them and encourage personal and professional development. There are a number of successful mentorship schemes up and running within our specialty, including but not limited to, the BSSH Mentor Scheme and BHS Mentorship Scheme.

In the Birmingham Orthopaedic Training Programme within Health Education England, West Midlands; a panel made up of the Training Programme Director, their Deputy, educational leads, as well as a senior and junior trainee; have set up a successful mentorship scheme for ST3-ST8 trainees. The Scheme has been running since September 2021 and has 35 mentor: mentee pairings. This format is currently being piloted in the East Midlands Deanery.

While not assuming to be either an expert or singular voice on this topic, we present our tried and tested approach in how to set up a mentorship scheme for T&O trainees via a screencast, using a ten-point plan. The aim is to provide a framework with useful links and documents to assist others keen to set up such a Scheme. Please contact the BOA at [email protected] with any questions or queries that can be directed to our team, and we would be glad to help and support you.