No ortho department at your school? No problem! A lack of access to a close by ortho department is not a dead end for finding a mentor, its just a detour requiring strategy.
Why Mentors and Mentorship Matters in Orthopedics
I’d wager that finding a mentor in orthopedics is one of the most helpful things you can do as a medical student, especially if you don’t have access to an orthopedic department at your school. Mentors provide many different positive benefits: honest advice from someone in the field; access to research and shadowing; and long-term guidance through your clinical years. They can also help connect you to other orthopedic surgeons and programs that they have connections with, helping you strengthen your network.
Where to Look for Ortho Mentors
Local Orthopedic Surgeons
The first place you can look for local orthopedic surgeons to mentor you is at nearby orthopedic departments in your area. Even if they aren’t associated with your medical school, many community-based orthopedic surgeons are open to mentoring medical students, especially if you are enthusiastic and respectful of their time. You can look up orthopedic practices in your area and check for providers with teaching or research interests. Hospitals with sports medicine or trauma services are also great places to start.
Primary Care Sports Medicine Physicians
If this isn’t an option, you can look to find a primary care sports medicine physician. These are non-operative physicians who often work closely with orthopedic surgeons and can provide valuable information, and are a more accessible entry point into MSK. They can provide shadowing, clinical pearls, and help you network with other orthopedic surgeons in the area.
Faculty From Published Ortho Research
Another option is reading orthopedic journal articles (like JBJS Open Access or Journal of Orthopedic Research) and looking up the faculty authors’ emails. Many of them list their institutional contact info. If their work seems interesting to you, send a brief, respectful email asking to learn about there research or see if you can help.
Conference Speakers and Panelists
Ortho conferences like AAOS, AOAO, and AOA often feature residents, fellows, and attendings as speakers. You can reach out after a talk if you connect with a specific speaker by introducing yourself. Use this time to network and build connections. Make sure to get their contact info and follow up with them as this will help strengthen your connection.
How to Build and Maintain Your Relationship With a Mentor
Once you have found a mentor, it is important to know how to continue building and maintaining that relationship.
Be Consistent, Not Clingy
Mentors are busy people, especially as they are full time healthcare providers. They don’t expect constant updates, but they will appreciate a quick message every 1-2 months sharing your progress. This will show your taking initiative and that you value their guidance.
Document the Advice They Give
Whether your mentor recommends a book, a journal article, or a next step, write it down. This will help make sure you remember and follow through on whatever they recommended. You can then later circle back to let them know that their recommendation helped greatly. Every mentor wants to know that you are serious about growing as a medical student and are teachable.
Ask Targeted Questions
Try to keep from falling into the common trap of just asking “any advice”. Instead try asking more pointed questions such as:
- How did you decide on your subspecialty?
- What was your most meaningful experience in residency?
- If you were in my shoes as an M2, what would you focus on?
These pointed questions will give your mentor something specific to work with, ultimately helping you more.
Express Gratitude Often
Make sure to express your gratitude and say “thank you” often. Whether it’s a quick email or a handwritten note after shadowing, your mentors will greatly appreciate it and will remember students who show gratitude.
Offer Value Back When You Can
As you are a medical student, you may not be able to offer much value back early on, but you can still help. Offer to help with simple research task or to help organize lecture slides. As you grow in your training, you’ll have more to give back back until the relationship becomes mutually beneficial between two peers.
Final Thoughts
Don’t focus on getting the most prestigious, famous surgeon to help you. You just need someone who believes in you, guides you, and helps you grow. Send me a message if you have any questions or need any help with finding a mentor!