• Clinical Mentoring
• Getting Started
  • Hiring Mentors & Site Prep
  • Tips for Mentors
• Needs Assessment
  • Provider Competencies
  • Systems
• Training
  • Training Methods
  • Communication
  • TOT Worksheets
• Curricula
  • Courses
  • Workshops
  • Video
• Monitoring and Eval
  • Selecting Methods & Tools
  • Tools
    • Change in Knowledge
    • Provider Behaviour Change
    • Facility Improvements
    • Evaluating Clinical Mentors
• Resources
  • Reference Materials
  • Image Library
  • Glossary of Terms

Introduction to Clinical Mentoring

I-TECH has identified clinical mentoring as a critical bridge for the training gap that exists between traditional didactic trainings and practice in the clinical setting. Clinical mentoring enables health care workers to practice new skills in clinical settings with the support and guidance of a more specialized/experienced clinician. This intensive practical training is especially important in HIV care and treatment given the diversity of illnesses associated with AIDS and the complexity of antiretroviral therapy (ART). We view clinical mentoring as a key component of HIV clinical capacity building and a critical intervention in decentralization of ART programs - both from external country support as well as from urban centers to rural areas.

There are a variety of scenarios in which clinical mentoring could take place. The following describes three different scenarios.

• A mentor might be a guest at the host facility, with no authority or control over the practicing clinicians, the practice set-up, or facility supplies. The mentor works alongside the host clinician as the host sees patients in his/her own setting. One of the great advantages of providing on the job training at the trainee's own facility is that the clinician is not removed from an active facility for training purposes, thus reducing the strain on clinical care systems.
• A mentor can host trainees at his/her own facility, where the trainees are the guests. This might occur as a component of a fellowship or training program that includes both classroom-based and clinical teaching, or in a facility that has agreed to serve as a preceptorship site.
• A mentor could "host" a trainee at a third-party facility.  This scenario might take place as part of a workshop that includes a clinical practicum at which the trainers act as preceptors to the trainees, using local health facilities that have agreed to sponsor the practicum.  

Each of these scenarios presents different opportunities, constraints and expectations that should be clearly identified and discussed. If a trainee is a guest at the mentor’s facility, the facility may or may not closely match the resources or constraints of the trainee’s site. If the mentoring is taking place as part of a certificate program or regular supervisory visit, then there will be agreed-upon expectations that the trainee will meet certain performance competencies, and the mentor will have the authority to assess the trainee in these areas. In the third scenario described above, the relationship between the mentor and trainee might be completely voluntary, with the only incentive being the desire on the part of the trainee to improve practice. Key to the success of effective clinical mentoring in any of these scenarios is the establishment of a trusting and receptive relationship between the mentor and trainee, and a collaborative process of establishing goals and objectives for the mentorship.

I-TECH has spent several years accumulating tools and methods for our mentors in the field. The Clinical Mentoring Toolkit is a collection of these materials designed to support administrators and clinicians in planning and implementing successful clinical mentoring programs.

Ideally, as the pool of expert HIV/ART clinicians in each country expands, a network of HIV clinical mentors will emerge to support and train other HIV clinicians with less experience.

Finally, clinical mentoring is one way to see whether health care providers are able to translate what they know into what they do. The direct observation of clinical mentors can provide valuable data on the impact of other forms of training, ensuring that training dollars are well spent.

For a more specific overview of the rationale behind clinical mentoring, please read the position paper provided below.

• Position Paper

File Type:

PDF*

Pages:

5

This document describes I-TECH's approach to clinical mentoring, including the theoretical and training framework that is the foundation of I-TECH's clinical mentoring approach.

• Mentorship Overview

File Type:

PowerPoint Presentation

Slides:

31

This presentation is the starting point for all of I-TECH's clinical mentoring activities. Using stories told through photographs and integrated discussion, this presentation contextualizes the goals of mentorship for both mentors and mentees.

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*Software capable of displaying a PDF is required for viewing or printing this document. We have included a copy of Adobe Reader on this CD (in software folder) or you may download it from the Adobe website at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.