The American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) recognizes the lasting benefits that come from gaining wisdom from women in medicine who have walked that path already. We’ve heard from so many members about the positive impact that a mentor can have when critical insights are provided at just the right time.
In fact, the diversity of the AMWA community is one of our greatest assets — creating opportunities so members can form meaningful connections and learn from one another. As an AMWA member, you can request to be mentored and you can offer to serve as a mentor at any time. The only requirement is that your membership is up-to-date to have access to the Mentorship platform.
Benefit from Women Who Are Blazing the Trail
Effective mentorship can be one of the most important determinants of career success. AMWA realizes that preparing women in medicine to pursue satisfying, rewarding careers often requires communication of “unwritten rules” and learning strategies to navigate wisely so you care well prepared to advance.
As a member of AMWA, you have access to an extensive network of mentors at every stage of your career, whether you are a physician looking to make a career change or a student considering which specialty to choose. Mentoring can be short-term to help address a particular question you are facing now or longitudinal to have a sounding board for when you’re just not sure where your life is going.
“One of my favorite things about AMWA is the breadth of knowledge and experience among our members. Whether they are looking for advice about salary negotiations, or want to talk to other physicians who’ve experienced fertility issues, or are trying to decide on a subspecialty, this platform will help members tap into the AMWA brain trust.” — Katherine Sharkey, MD, PhD, AMWA Mentorship Chair; Associate Dean for Gender Equity at the Brown University Warren Alpert Medical School
Interested in Getting Paired with a Mentor or Mentee?
AMWA has invested in a user-friendly mentoring platform accessible through a mobile app that allows both group and 1:1 mentoring. It also matches mentors and mentees based on areas of interest, skills, and experience. The platform integrates with Zoom, Google Meet, and calendars to make scheduling easy to navigate. members have the option to be a mentor, a mentee, or both.
To get started, choose to sign up as either a mentor or a mentee. You will then receive a prompt to create a profile and get matched after answering a few questions. You will receive an email with information on how to connect with your mentor/mentees.
For mentors who would also like to be mentored as well as mentees willing to mentor others, we will send instructions once you are in the system on getting matched. In this way, you have the option to get the most out of mentorship with AMWA.
RESOURCES To ENRICH Your EXPERIENCE
Throughout the year, the AMWA mentorship committee hosts webinars focused on leadership and career development as well as specialty perspectives. View the webinar recordings.
AMWA’s residents and fellows division has also compiled a mentoring toolkit for trainees.
Special recognition to members of the AMWA Mentoring Committee who worked to make the AMWA Mentoring Platform a reality: Amy Davis, MD, Elizabeth Jeans, MD, Irene Kalbian, MD, Morgan Levy, Nataly Montaño, MS, Selena Park, MD, Maya Roytman, and Alyssa Brown, MD, PhD.
