What role does mentorship play during and after one's FETP training?
Mentors play an important role in imparting new knowledge and motivating and encouraging the fellows. They also nurture the fellow’s professional interests, oversee the fellow’s progress, and support the fellow. They also help and influence the fellows and protect their interests in the field.
In what capacity have you served as a mentor?
I have been serving as a mentor since 2012. We established the Turkey FETP in 2012 under the Ministry of Health. I became a mentor and the director of the FETP. I am a medical doctor, a public health specialist, and an epidemiologist. We established the program with the support of CDC and a European Union-funded project and worked with two experts for three years, one of whom was from a university in Turkey and the other a technical expert and EIS graduate from the World Health Organization.
In your view, why is mentorship important?
In an FETP, the mentors are the backbone of the program. The fellows need to be listened to, encouraged in their work, monitored, and need good communication and coaching. They need timely feedback. There is need of a person who can fulfill this position.
In your view, can mentorship help strengthen public health systems? How?
Mentorship can strengthen public health systems as mentors are experienced field epidemiologists who ensure that FETP fellows receive a complete and well-rounded experience in surveillance, epidemiologic investigations, taking public health action and communicating public health information.
What are the challenges in finding and providing effective mentorship to field epidemiologists?
Effective mentorship requires leadership, good communication, motivation, enthusiasm, creativeness and patience. Thus, finding an effective mentor is always a challenge. In our program, we select mentors among our graduated fellows. We monitor the process they go through and pick those who we believe fulfill the criteria. We monitor the work they do and assign them as mentors. However, during the process, they need to be evaluated regularly to ensure that they provide effective mentorship.
So many challenges exist in finding and providing effective mentorship to field epidemiologists, such as the demand of a good salary, motivation, sustainability of the program, selection of fellows, assignments, etc.
Motivating the mentors, like motivating the fellows, is also essential. In my opinion, mentors should also have opportunities to update their knowledge in the field and join conferences to refresh their knowledge in order to be able to follow changes in systems. They need to be supported so that they can feel they are still part of the public health system, "not just trainers."
What is the greatest lesson you've learned from one of your mentors (ideally through FETP/FELTP/EIS)?
Mentors want to be part of the training cycle; they need new knowledge. They should not conduct only the routine activities but become part of the ongoing activities of their field. They need to feel that they are valued, and they want to be appreciated.