Mentorship Program Update

The Mentorship Program has continued and is off to another great year for the 2021-2022 cycle. Applications were accepted in the spring of 2021 from American Academy of Orofacial Pain members interested in becoming mentees and/or mentors. This year we are happy to share that we have 17 mentees paired with mentors. Just before the annual meeting of the AAOP, in May, the participants were made aware of the pairings. There was a zoom meeting of all who were able to attend where we could make introductions and give an overview of the goals of the program.  Each pair is urged to be in contact with each other at least monthly.  Although more frequent contact is encouraged if it works well for the participants.

The mentorship committee has agreed to promote more involvement and ownership in the program by participants through adding a challenge.  Each month of this program year, which runs May 2021 to May 2022, a different mentor/mentee pair is assigned to offer a case or article to the participants.  The history and details are shared with the group and then the pairs are instructed to use this as a conversation starter for their monthly discussion with their partner. Of course, the goal is for the pair to learn from each other, become comfortable sharing information, and then, hopefully, will lead to even more conversations.

We also have a WhatsApp group chat, where all the participants are welcome to share questions or topics for the group to discuss. If you are interested in being part of this program, please keep it in mind and look for announcements in the spring of 2022.  We will be looking for another group of interested mentors and mentees.

Mary Charles B Haigler, DMD, MS
Mentorship Committee Chairperson, Fellow AAOP, Diplomate ABOP