Heather Tlougan

Mentoring Summary
August 6, 2014
Mentoring in Medical Dosimetry
Mentoring plays a significant role in how values and practices become part of a culture or
profession.1 Mentoring never stops in a profession. A person will meet many mentors in their
career and life. There are endless opportunities to learn from others.
Effective mentoring has a critical role on new mentees in any profession. It sets a precedence
for learning and has a direct impact on educational and clinical success. Mentors serve as an
advisor or guide for a novice moving from dependence to independence to proficiency.1
Mentoring is creating an inviting and encouraging learning environment for mentees (M Weis,
CMD, oral communication, July 2014). Mentoring is also having the skills and adaptability to
help others learn in your profession. Reflecting on their learning abilities allows you to be the
most effective mentor.
Often times mentoring and teaching are used interchangeably. There are definitely some
differences. The mentor has a specific skill to teach. It is typically one on one learning, teachers
do not necessarily have hands on knowledge of what they teach (M Weis, CMD, oral
communication, July 2014).
The mentor is in the same field as the mentee, most of the time teachers are not. The mentor is
showing by example and wants the best for the mentee. They build a professional working
relationship. Mentors work more closely with their mentees, than teachers do with students
typically (M Dibona, BS RT, oral communication, July 2014).
Effective mentoring is a skill set that some people dont have. You need to
have patience. You need to tell the mentee they are doing something wrong in a constructive
way without putting them down. The mentee has to feel comfortable in order to ask questions.
Never make the mentee feel dumb. These are the qualities of being an effective mentor.
Ineffective mentoring would have a negative effect on the mentee and decrease the quality of
learning and have a negative impact (M Weis, CMD, oral communication, July 2014). An
effective mentor truly enjoys their job and mentoring. They provide a positive approach to
learning and at the same time challenging the mentee. An effective mentor takes the time to
explain things even though it might slow them down (M DiBona, B.S.(R)(T), oral

communication, July 2014).

Becoming a better effective mentee means taking constructive criticism from others and
putting effort and time into being an effective mentor. They need to work on being patient. This
is new information for the mentee so slow down and explain what you are doing. Ask the
mentee if they understand what was just explained. Dont be afraid to correct the mentee. Let
them also know when they are doing well. Ask them how they learn best and use that technique
to mentor them when possible (M Weis, CMD, oral communication, July 2014). The mentee is
only going to be as good as the effort you put into mentoring (M DiBona, B.S. (R)(T), oral
communication, July 2014). The mentee will only learn by example.
Mentoring and seeing the mentee grow and make strides in their learning is very
rewarding as a mentor. I encourage anyone with a small amount a time to become a mentor at
work or in the community. The rewards of mentoring truly out ways the effort.

References
1. Lenards, N. Professionalism & Mentoring. Mentoring. [SoftChalk]. La Crosse, WI:
UW-L Medical Dosimetry Program; 2014.

Appendix A
Heather Tlougan
Mentoring Interview with Mark Weis (Transcript)
July 29, 2014
Q: What is your title, along with your educational and career background?
A: I am the lead dosimetrist at St Paul Cancer Center. I graduated from Xray
School from the VA hospital here in Minneapolis. I studied Radiation Therapy
at the University of Minnesota. I then did OJT for dosimetry mostly at the VA.
Q: Define mentoring in your own words?
A: Mentoring is creating an inviting and encouraging learning environment for
Mentees. Enjoying and believing in what you do makes mentoring easy.
Q: How is a mentor different than a teacher?
A: The mentor has a specific skill to teach. It is typically one on one learning.
Teachers do not necessarily have hands on knowledge of what they teach.
Q: Define effective mentoring or what separates effective mentoring from
ineffective mentoring?
A: Effective mentoring is a skill set that some people dont have. You need to
have patience. You need to tell the mentee they are doing something wrong
in a constructive way without putting them down.
The mentee has to feel comfortable in order to ask questions. Never make
the mentee feel dumb. These are the qualities of being an effective mentor.
Ineffective mentoring would have a negative effect on mentee and decrease
the quality of the learning and have a negative impact on relationships.
Q: How can someone become a more effective mentor?
A: They need to work on being patient. This is new information for the mentee
so slow down and explain what you are doing. Ask if they understand what
you just explained. Dont be afraid to correct the mentee. Let them also know
when they are doing well. Ask them how they learn best and use that
technique to mentor them when possible.

Q: What mentors have you had in your life?

A: Marlys Hughes was a great mentor in x-ray school. It was okay to make
mistakes around her. She knew what to teach and she had a great way
of doing it. She was great to all students and did not show favoritism.
In therapy school, Bruce Gerbi, was a very knowledgeable physicist. He
was very light hearted. He made learning easy.

Appendix B
Heather Tlougan
Mentoring Interview with Marie DiBona (Transcript)
July 29, 2014
Q: What is your title, along with your educational and career background?
A: I am the lead radiation therapist at St Paul Cancer Center. I received my
BS degree in Radiation Therapy at UWL in Wisconsin.
Q: Define mentoring in your own words?
A: Mentoring is having the skills and adaptability to help others learn in your
profession. Reflecting on their learning abilities allows you to be the most
effective mentor. Mentoring is also having the mindset to be better than
others that taught you. You need to create an inviting learning environment.
Q: How is a mentor different than a teacher?
A: The mentor is in the same field as the mentee, most of the time teachers
are not. It is usually one on one interactions when mentoring. The mentor
is showing by example and wants the best for the mentee. They build
a profession working relationship. Mentors work more closely with their
mentees, than teachers do with students typically.
Q: Define effective mentoring or what separates effective mentoring from
ineffective mentoring?
A: An effective mentor truly enjoys their job and mentoring. They provide a
positive approach to learning and at the same time challenging the mentee.
An effective mentor takes the time to explain things even though it might
slow them down a bit. An effective mentor can tell the mentee to just wait
a minute and I will be right with you.
Q: How can someone become a more effective mentor?
A: They need to ask the mentee how they learn best and present information
to the mentee in that way. Learn to have patience. The mentee is only going
to be as good as the effort you put into mentoring. Make sure you ask the
mentee if they understand what you are explaining. Let your mentee know
that no question is a dumb question. Do not make them feel intimidated

because it has a negative effect on learning.

Q: What mentors have you had in your life?
A: In college my genetics professor was a great mentor to me. She was
humorous, engaging, and approachable. In radiation therapy school the
gal who ran the conventional simulator loved to teach and was very good
at it.