Mentoring Wisdom
In our institution, we are assigned to a mentor and a mentoring group. I really like my mentor. I learn so much from her every session even if we've only had a few. She's full of wisdom, and always says things that I need to hear. I just wish she was more clingy. And by clingy, I mean that she wants to meet us more instead of us reaching out to her. I think mentorship is really important not only in medicine, but also in life in general especially as a first generation doctor.
In true me fashion, I usually take notes of the quotable things she says during our sessions. Today's session was a particularly personal one for one of my groupmates. After she vented, our mentor (M) asked if she wanted advise or comfort, which I think should be asked more. I will try to do my best to ask this from now on. The main lesson I got from today is valuing myself more. In doing that, it is important to ask yourself: are the things that trouble you worth losing sleep over? Is it good for your mental health? The reality of living in a pandemic world is that no matter how much you try to connect with people online, for now, all you have is yourself. We struggle as a whole and at the same time we also have our personal struggles. For me, it is the lack of social interaction and comfort from friends that cannot be produced online. Don't get me wrong, communicating with people online helps. However, it is far from real-life interactions that make you feel less lonely, well-supported, and heard. The pandemic is stressful enough, so you have to filter out things that cause you avoidable stress and, according to M, reserve your stress for the things that are more worth it. I have just recently gotten better from not been feeling mentally, emotionally, and socially well recently. Being cooped up at home really took a toll on me. Hearing this served as a reminder to choose my battles. I should take control of the things I can, and worry less about the things I can't.













