Top Qualities of a Physiotherapy Mentor.
Working with a mentor is essential as a Physiotherapist. So much so that the HCPC provides guidance for both supervisors and supervisees and is included in the standards of practice.
Whilst a lot of employers provide you with a mentor and if you are lucky, they may select someone who is your best fit in terms of having strengths where your weaknesses are, it is not always the case.
The HCPC standards use research to recommend that supervision is most effective when mentees choose their mentor. Logistically, this may be challenging in some workplaces. If you are self employed or in the private sector, you are able to shop around and select a mentor that can develop you and your career.
So, what qualities should you be looking for in a mentor? Here is my advice, I think you need to look out for 3 things:
What they HAVE? What ARE they? And What they DO?
Top Qualities of a Physiotherapy Mentor.
1. What they HAVE?
2. What ARE they?
3. What do they DO?
👀Read to the end for: Tips for How to find your next Mentor!
1. What they HAVE?
Two important qualities for a mentor to HAVE is Time and Experience.
Time
A mentor needs to have time to spend with their mentee. It needs to be a designated time and place, with a plan to address a specific aim at each session.
If your mentor does not plan time with you, it can leave you feeling unsupported and your questions left unanswered. This can impact the care you provide to your patients/ clients.
When a mentor has the TIME for you, you feel safe that you have a regular time and place to go and be confident that you will be supported.
Experience
A mentor needs to have relevant experience above your own in the specific area that you need support. This doesn’t mean that they have to be years ahead of you. Depending on your specific needs they could have worked in the area a few months longer or be less years qualified than you are overall but have specific experience in the area that you need support.
If a mentor does not have relevant experience it can leave questions unanswered and the sessions becoming disjointed.
When a mentor has relevant experience you feel confident that they will be able to support you with your questions.
2. What ARE they?
Good mentors ARE Listeners and Non-Judgemental.
Listeners
Mentors need to be able to listen to your sticking points so that you can work together to come up with solutions.
If you mentor does not listen to you and only works on what they believe you need, it can become quite a frustrating relationship.
When a mentor listens well, they pick up on themes of where you are struggling in your practice and can provide advice and guidance on how you can move forwards.
Non-Judgemental
A fear for mentees is that they feel that they should already know the answers to their questions or should know how to assess and treat certain conditions.
If a mentor is judgemental it can make you feel that you aren’t working hard enough, you don’t know enough and fears about your lack of ability are true.
If a mentor is non-judgemental, they create a safe space to ask any question without fear of humiliation. This allows you do grow and develop at your own rate.
3. What they DO?
Three things that great mentors DO are: Teach and Explain, Adapt to Your Needs and Push You to the Next Level.
Teach and Explain
As Physiotherapists, we want to know the whys and the hows, we like to understand and this is what makes us good at what we do.
If a mentor tells you what to do without explaining why you should do it, your immediate problem may be solved but it doesn’t allow you to develop. (There are exceptions such as emergency situations but time should be taken afterwards to debrief)
When a mentor teaches and explains, you feel your confidence increase and your knowledge expand so you can manage the same or similar situations independently in the future.
Adapt to Your Needs
Every Physio is different, we have different personalities, learning styles and clinical caseloads therefore each mentoring relationship has to be different.
When a mentor doesn’t adapt to your needs, you can feel misunderstood. You feel that you are not developing and potentially that you are not good enough or smart enough for the role.
When a mentor adapts to your needs, the sessions are productive and the advice and education provided is specific and your confidence grows.
Push You to the Next Level
The point of mentoring is to develop the mentee. This can involve being critical about your own practice.
When you are not pushed to develop, you don’t feel that you are progressing as an independent clinician. You attend your sessions to get answers to your current problems but you don’t develop skills to reason future problems independently.
When a mentor pushes you to the next level, over time you can clearly see how you have developed to manage problems independently when previously you would have required support.
So, when you are looking for your next mentor, think about What they HAVE? What ARE they? and What they Do?
Some mentors are with you for your whole career, for a few years or for a shorter period of time. All are valuable for your development in different stages of your career.
What is important to remember is that mentors are Physiotherapists just like you. They will make mistakes in mentoring and learn from them but I believe they should strive to have the qualities I have described in this post.
So Where do you find a mentor?
If you are employed your employer will often provide you with one. My advice is to make sure you understand what the standard supervision practice is prior to gaining employment (frequency, level of support provided etc).
If you feel that you require more support or your place of work does not provide a mentor. First you need to identify what area of practice you need to work on next:
With my SWOT analysis template.
Then you can find a mentor with the skill set you require for your development.
If you are a CSP member, you can apply to be mentored by another CSP Member: Click Here.
Your opportunity to work with me!
If you think that we would be a good mentoring fit:
Get in touch 👇 or take a look at my service page.
If you don’t feel it is the right time to work with me on this one, no problem at all. Here are some blog posts to help you with your mentee journey.
📢Share with the Community:
Who was the best mentor you have had so far and why?
Post your answers below in the comments section below. 👇👇👇
About the Blogger:
Hi, I’m Rebekah.
I’m a Physiotherapist with a passion to support others to get to where they want to be. I love to organise and plan which, comes in handy for my mission to empower others to achieve their Physiotherapy career goals.
