1

Ryan Clark
Professionalism and Mentoring in Medical Dosimetry
July 28, 2016
The Meaning of Effective Mentoring
A mentor is an important individual with a vast amount of knowledge and experience that
he or she is willing and able to pass on to others. The definition of being a mentor can be read as,
One who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and sometimes younger
person.1 Being a mentor is more than just being a teacher, as the mentor can demonstrate how
mentees can apply their new found knowledge and skills they gain to everyday situations. It is
for these reasons why mentors are such an intricate part in the training of new medical
dosimetrists. The mentors are able to tie together the clinical and didactic portions of the learning
process together. Dosimetrists who are influenced and who learn from mentors can have
significantly improved outcomes in both their professional and personal development within the
field.2
There is no substitute for the value and impact that mentoring can provide on any
individuals life. There are many benefits that mentoring provides for mentees that make them
more proficient, dependable employees as they enter the workforce. Studies have shown that
individuals who have been introduced to the workplace through a mentoring program have a
higher level of confidence by graduation than do students who have not.2 This quick
acclimation to the work environment allows for the mentees to excel at a much fast rate within
their careers. Another advantage that having a mentor can provide is that the mentees can more
easily establish core values and beliefs through the guidance of proper work ethics and
techniques. This is important going forward into a new job as the new employee quickly finds
that they are responsible for everything they do, that and no one will be around to remind them
on how or when to complete various tasks. A mentor can help guide new medical dosimetry
candidates to ensure that they are well prepared for an ever changing and challenging field of
work.
Throughout my life, I have had the privilege of being in the presence of multiple mentors
who provided me with valuable, knowledge and insight that I feel has left a large impact on me.
My coaches in school athletics taught me how to deal with constructive criticism and how I

could more effectively absorb the advice that they provided me with. Learning how to accept and
best learn from criticism is a key component to working well with other individuals. In addition
the many professors and clinical advisors acted as mentors throughout my college years as well.
They were always there to provide me with encouragement and wisdom throughout the
undergraduate radiation therapy program. Without their guidance I feel that I would not be as
competent as both a professional and individual that I present myself as today. The life skills and
knowledge I learned throughout those parts of my life are what I give credit to achieving my
accomplishments.
By having such prominent mentors and role models throughout my education and
training, I was able to see what it took to be an influential mentor for others. I was able to
confidently coach collegiate level swimmers and divers by drawing from the methods and
techniques that my mentors had provided me. During my radiation therapy undergraduate, I was
able to assist and help fellow students in learning the dosimetry coursework, since I had seen
how to effectively teach others these subjects from the dosimetrists who acted as mentors for me.
What is most important from those situations though was that by teaching others, I was able to
even further strengthen topics and ideas that I may not have been as familiar with before.
Being a good mentor is not an easy task and takes large amount of emotional
commitment that can take time away from other things. I feel that the benefits that mentoring
provides for both the mentors and mentees far outweighs these factors though. The need for
mentors within the field of medical dosimetry is a necessary role to link the knowledge of the
didactic and clinical knowledge that are present within the field. Mentoring is the best method
for making both the mentors and mentees more knowledgeable professionals as they are able to
provide information to one another. Mentoring program will continue to help both me and other
aspiring medical dosimetrist in improving ours skills and quality of care for our patients.

References
1. Lenards, N. Mentoring. [SoftChalk}. La Crosse, WI: UW-L Medical Dosimetry
Program;2016.
2. Trad ML. Mentoring Radiation Therapy Students: a Review and Survey. Radiation
Therapist. 2009;18(2)101-108.

Ryan Clark
Mentoring interview with Heather Parks, CMD (Transcript)
July 26, 2016
Appendix A
Q: How would you describe what it means to be a mentor?
A: Helping someone achieve a goal through encouragement and teaching through and life
experiences.
Q: What qualities and skills make someone a great mentor?
A: A willingness to share knowledge in a professional and compassionate manner
Q: How can mentees make the most out of their time with their mentors?
A: Establish a working relationship, ask questions, listen and be willing to learn every day.
Q: Who was the most influential mentor on your life?
A: Cant say I can name just one person. Its all of the people you learn important life lessons
from. All of these people are a great influence on your life.
Q: Do you feel that everyone should have a mentor in his or her life?
A: Yes, but not just one person. There are too many people you can learn from and gain knew
knowledge and experience. Dont limit yourself to one single person. No one person has all of
the answers.

Ryan Clark
Mentoring interview with Tim Clark, Electrical Engineer (Transcript)
July 26, 2016
Appendix B
Q: How would you describe what it means to be a mentor?
A: A good mentor has to be very patient and be diligently involved in the day to day work of
teaching someone new skill sets and knowledge that will benefit them.
Q: What qualities and skills make someone a great mentor?
A: You need to be very calm, understanding, and methodical to help them along their path of
learning.
Q: How can mentees make the most out of their time with their mentors?
A: The mentees need to be excellent listeners, work hard, and try to learn new things from
experiences that will benefit them.
Q: Who was the most influential mentor on your life?
A: Definitely my dad, but from a professional standpoint I had a coworker at a field application
engineering company that mentored and trained me. He had written many renown papers and
had also trained numerous electrical engineers.
Q: Do you feel that everyone should have a mentor in his or her life?
A: Everyone should definitely have their parents as a mentor. Beyond that though, I think having
a mentor from a professional standpoint can be very beneficial if you are very self-motivated and
work hard. Some people may need a mentor more than others who may prefer to figure things
out for themselves.