Incoming residents at Northeast Georgia Medical Center will find that mentoring is an integral part of our medical education program. Our mentoring program is designed to promote ongoing engagement and learning, and to provide an opportunity for residents and physicians to both teach and support each other in a mutually beneficial relationship. The Program Director for Internal Medicine, James Kruer, MD, FACP, works alongside all NGMC faculty members to mentor residents in many aspects of their professional development—including career choices, leadership, study plans, research and quality improvement projects.
Mentoring Forms
Mentoring at NGMC comes in many forms, ranging from structured to informal. Residents will be assigned a faculty mentor as well as self-select volunteer mentors. The typical resident will have approximately 10 mentors during their career training at NGMC.
Mentoring Methods
Mentoring methods employed in our program include formal mentoring, co-mentoring, informal conversations, coaching, and guiding. Formal mentoring is the most traditional form of mentoring, in which a senior mentor is a trusted advisor who offers support and assistance to advance a junior doctor’s career. In co-mentoring, the mentee and the mentor share a mutual exchange that allows both parties to learn at the same time—for example a mentor may provide career advice to a junior physician, and then the junior physician shows the senior physician how to use a new mobile app. Coaching is also an important mentoring method, and involves a more experienced person helping to design and guide experiential learning for the mentee. A senior physician may coach a resident when leading a team in patient resuscitation effort, for example. Guiding and unstructured conversations are examples of more informal mentoring practices—a senior physician may guide a resident on how to perform a task or to find a specific location in the hospital. A resident may have an informal conversation with a senior physician that may start without any particular aim but then proves to be a valuable source of information.
To foster the most positive experience and relationship, mentors employ tools such as sharing knowledge, experience and observations, providing advice, stimulating thoughts and ideas, painting the “big picture,” and giving positive messages. Our mentoring program aims to challenge participants to think critically, to understand accountability, and to encourage rather than discourage.
How can you apply to become a resident?
Northeast Georgia Medical Center is eager to provide all of these forms of mentoring as part of our program for training residents who are hardwired for excellence. Applications to the NGMC residency programs will open in September. Learn how you can apply to become a resident at NGMC and benefit from our exciting mentoring program.
Learn more about how you can become a resident at NGMC.
Author: James Kruer, Jr, MD – Northeast Georgia Medical Center Internal Medicine Residency Program Director
About Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s GME program
Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s (NGMC) GME program is currently accepting applications for the Internal Medicine and General Surgery Residency Programs and will match the inaugural class in the spring of 2019. NGMC’s Graduate Medical Education program is designed to train residents to be leaders in the medical field as well as in the community. Learn more about the NGMC GME program.
About Northeast Georgia Health System
Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS) is a non-profit institution on a mission of improving the health of our community in all we do. Our team cares for more than 800,000 people across the region through three hospitals and a variety of outpatient locations. Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) has three hospital campuses – NGMC Gainesville, NGMC Braselton, and NGMC Barrow – with a total of 713 beds and more than 700 medical staff members representing more than 50 specialties. Learn more at www.nghs.com.
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