Launch of the EMCA Mentoring Program
The Research Support Team in the Melbourne Medical School was delighted to officially launch the inaugural MMS Early and Mid-Career Academic (EMCA) Mentoring Program on Wednesday, 31 July with an event organised for program participants. The launch event brought together a variety of mentors and mentees from across the School, along with members of the School’s EMCA Advisory Committee who have been pivotal to conceiving and planning the program.
The EMCA Mentoring Program has been primarily developed to strengthen the academic and leadership capacities of the School’s Early to Mid-Career Academic cohort. Through the program, the MMS aims to address one of the recommendations highlighted in the Landscape for Emerging Health and Medical Academic Leaders in Australia report, which was based on the Australian national survey of workplace culture and wellbeing (2023) for EMCAs. The report recommends ‘enabling and strengthening positive supervisory practices, developing the work environment and our future leaders.’
From May to June, mentors and mentees submitted applications to participate in the program, wherein mentees stated the areas in which they are seeking guidance and support, mentors noted their areas of expertise, and all applicants explained their reasons for wanting to get involved. Based on this information, mentoring matches were made with the intention of best aligning the ambitions of mentees with the experience of mentors, while also providing an opportunity to bring together academics who might not otherwise have had the chance to meet each other and exchange ideas.
Given the inclusive nature of the program – which involves salaried and honorary staff, and staff based in a variety of different locations – we hope a secondary benefit of the program will be the creation of new cross-departmental links and greater networking across the School. With 24 mentors and 42 mentees participating, the program includes a combination of one-on-one and group mentoring arrangements. For those involved in group mentoring, there is a further opportunity to expand their networks and build peer mentoring support.
The School would like to thank Professor Christobel Saunders (Research Director, MMS and James Stewart Chair of Surgery), who chaired the event, and Professor Rob Moodie (Professor in Public Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health), who provided his advice on how to make the most of the mentoring relationship as a strong advocate of mentoring and a key driver behind the success of the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health’s mentoring program. The MMS launch event was well attended and provided a great opportunity for program participants to reflect on their mentoring goals and to meet each other in person.
In its inaugural year, the EMCA mentoring program has been designed to formally run from July to December, although we hope mentoring relationships may continue beyond this period for many matches. At the official end of the program, feedback will be sought from participants and an impact report will be released to communicate key details and findings on the success of the program. To learn more about the mentoring program, please read the Program Guidelines or contact mms-research@unimelb.edu.au.