Mentoring
CMDFA Mentoring desires to assist participants to grow in Christian values and to persevere in their faith. This is particularly relevant during the first five years following graduation, where the challenges that confront doctors and dentists during the early stages of their working lives can test their faith immensely. As such, CMDFA has a renewed vision for discipleship through Christian mentoring in healthcare.
We consider mentoring to be:
A partnership between a senior and a junior focused on the development of the junior member through goal-directed interaction in integrating faith and practice.
While Christian mentoring mostly occurs in informal settings, students and junior doctors commonly face difficulties in finding suitable Christian mentors in healthcare. The value of state-based CMDFA mentoring initiatives is its ability to cater for such needs through the wider network of mentors available to draw upon, as well as still remain feasible and practical in implementation. State mentoring coordinators have been selected to facilitate this initiative, although usually a team is gathered to achieve the successful coordination.
Currently, mentoring programs have been established in Victoria and Newcastle. New mentoring hubs are beginning in Sydney, South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland and Alice Springs.
If you are interested in becoming a mentor, or being mentored, please see the relevant sub-section for your state and contact the state/city coordinator. If there isn’t a mentoring hub in your area and you are interested in starting one, please let us know and we would be delighted to work together in developing one
Training Videos
CMDFA has developed a series of training videos for mentors and mentees embarking on Christian mentoring. While we recognise that these videos are not exhaustive, we hope they provide basic training of principles underlying Christian mentoring, particularly in healthcare.
These videos depict Kara Martin, a previous staff worker with CMDFA and lecturer at Ridley College with vast experience in Christian mentoring.
Introduction to Christian mentoring (7 minutes)
Practical Approaches to Christian mentoring (7 minutes)
Aspects of Christian mentoring (8 minutes)
Practical Tips for Mentors: Part I (5 minutes) for mentors
Practical Tips for Mentors: Part II (7 minutes) for mentors
Practical Advice for Mentees (5 minutes) for mentees
If you have any thoughts or comments, there is a link provided under each YouTube video to provide feedback. You can also let us know at cmdfa.grow@gmail.com
Mentoring in Newcastle
Since our pilot program in 2016 involving almost 40 mentors and mentees, CMDFA Mentoring has continued to foster relationships amongst medical students, doctors and dentists in Newcastle. These provide Biblical, mutual encouragement and accountability in how we live out our faith in Christ, especially in the challenges specific to medicine and dentistry.
Applications to be a mentor or mentee are open from February to March each year. This involves completing a short survey detailing your Christian journey, specialty interests, personality type and goals for mentoring so we can match you with the most suitable mentor or mentee. Pairings usually meet about 3-5 times a year. We hold an afternoon tea in August for mentors and mentees to share their experiences and encourage and learn from one another.
If you are interested in getting involved, or have any enquiries please contact CMDFA Newcastle at newcastle@cmdfa.org.au.
Mentoring in Victoria
We are remodeling mentoring for CMDFA Vic in 2021.
We are moving from the Grow Mentoring Program to a more individualised mentoring on an 'as needed' basis. This will mean that rather than a structured program, we will be responding to any mentoring interest throughout the year.
If you are interested in being mentored or mentoring a student/junior doctor, please send us an email at cmdfa.grow@gmail.com. Our team will contact with you to see how we can best support you in mentoring or being mentored.
Mentoring in South Australia
If you are interested in being part of the mentoring program in South Australia either as a mentor or mentee please email sa@cmdfa.org.au