Mentorship ecosystems in healthcare: A snapshot from the radiography community of the United Kingdom.

Abstract

Mentorship is considered essential for all professions and roles in healthcare, to facilitate educational development, career growth and the sharing of institutional or professional knowledge from generation to generation. Mentorship exists in various forms and to meet many purposes; it can be formal or informal, with the former generally being more structured, having established objectives, a designated timeframe, and defined responsibilities for the involved parties. Multiple studies of mentoring in healthcare have demonstrated increased job satisfaction and reduced burnout rates for mentees, and a subsequent positive impact upon staff turnover and retention. This commentary provides an understanding into the mentorship ecosystem with an exemplar snapshot from the Radiography community of the United Kingdom and advocates and proposes some practical tips through reflections that could potentially be helpful to mentors and mentees in healthcare.