MENTORSHIP

Support for women at all career stages

Mentorship encompasses two-way relationships in which support is given and received. As female clinicians and scientists, we face unique obstacles and have a different perspective of medicine and research than our male colleagues. Mentorship within iWiMS has the potential to provide a practical means by which like-minded women with an interest in MS (and related disorders) can be enabled to support each other, allowing us to become the best scientists and clinicians possible.

We recognize that mentorship alone is not enough to achieve career aims. Sponsorship is at least as important as mentorship; that is, peer nomination for memberships on committees, assessment panels, editorial boards etc., and we hope that this scheme will enable women to foster such opportunities.

Participate

Please fill out the brief survey below to join our mentorship program. If you have any questions, you may contact us at admin@iwims.world.

Program Format

The mentorship program will have two formats:

  1. A Mentor/Mentee pairing program

  2. A Peer Mentorship group program

FAQs

  • Pairings will take place during a specified enrollment period, with opt in periods twice/year for new members or interested parties to join.

  • In order to facilitate pairing and the creation of groups, each potential interested mentor/mentee/peer will complete a basic profile and indicate areas of interest so that matching can occur. Pairing and group creation will be based on broad research interest, career path and level of seniority.

  • No formal mentorship training will be provided at this stage, however mentors are encouraged to explore locally available opportunities for training.

  • There will be quarterly email check-ins and oversight to ensure that the mentor/mentee/peer relationships are developing and are useful. For pairings that may not work (for any reason) new pairings will be offered where practical.

  • Optional meet-ups with mentors in a group setting will be offered during the annual ECTRIMS, AAN, and other subspecialty meetings and conferences as interest and logistics allow.

  • The international women in multiple sclerosis (iWiMS) group had its inaugural meeting on 11 October 2018 at the ECTRIMS meeting in Berlin, Germany. iWiMS is a diverse group that includes clinicians, scientists and clinician-scientists. At our initial meeting, we had the opportunity as a group to discuss both our aims and how to achieve them. We identified a clear need to provide support for women at all career stages through the development of a formal mentorship program.