Arwinder Judge, DDS, is the chief clinical officer at Aspen Dental.

When schedules are exhausted and the to-do list seems never-ending — which, more often than not, is the case in healthcare — we start to assess what's essential and what's not. As we start to prioritize, non-essential activities may need to come off the list or be pushed down for attention at a later time.

Unfortunately, particularly throughout the pandemic, mentorship has been one of those items that may have been pushed to a later date. But in the midst of growing need and demand for affordable, quality patient care, as an industry we must reassess and commit to mentorship as an essential part of what we do.

Here are three fundamentals to fostering a healthy mentorship mindset:

Consider mentorship an imperative, not an option.

When I sat down to write this piece, I started by reflecting back on my career: Who were those strong mentors in my life? What defined them? How have I strived to pay it forward and emulate them?

To be quite honest, I had smart, attentive, invested teachers, but I couldn't point to one person who specifically spent proactive, meaningful time coaching, teaching, empowering and challenging me on a consistent basis.

My story isn't unique. Many dental students, doctors, owners and aspiring owners don't have a mentor. But I would argue that for our industry to flourish and our field to grow to meet the high demand for quality, affordable oral care, we must prioritize mentorship as a consistent part of our approach to professional development. People in mentor-mentee relationships have someone to help chart a meaningful, motivating career path while redirecting discouragement, providing support in the midst of burnout, and inspiring creativity and innovation. These are the fundamentals that drive culture — and culture is driving recruitment and retention initiatives that are critical to the longevity and capacity of the dental industry to meet patient needs.

Know the difference between teaching and mentoring.

One of the biggest misconceptions that can hinder the development of consistent, productive, strong mentor-mentee relationships is when teaching is conflated with mentoring. Teachers can — and often do — serve as mentors. Both roles are vital, but there's a unique distinction between a teacher-student and mentor-mentee dynamic.

To start, teachers are often responsible for instructing a larger group of students, whereas a mentor will typically have one or a few select mentees. For the mentor-mentee dynamic, that means there is more time to develop a relationship, identify strengths and areas of interest, create opportunities to learn through real world application and empowerment, and provide more personalized, strategic guidance. A mentor is someone who has gone before you in some way and can be a sounding board and advocate as you chart your own course.

Particularly in organizations, we can be prone to tout trainings and classes as options for ongoing professional development. And while those tools are highly valuable and instructive, they don't replace the value of a mentor-mentee relationship. At Aspen Dental, we aim to leverage both of these strategies to complement one another and ensure our doctors feel supported at every level to grow in their skills and careers.

Keep trust as the cornerstone.

Trust — not flattery, not skill, not level of success — is the cornerstone of healthy, thriving mentor-mentee relationships. In order for a mentee to truly grow and challenge themselves, they need to feel comfortable expressing their fears, frustrations, disillusionment, ambitions and ideas. That can only happen in a context where trust has been established.

At the same time, both the mentor and mentee need to be able to provide the other with direct, transparent feedback, whether it's the mentor giving feedback on a patient interaction, or a mentee sharing feedback about boundaries, culture or leadership style. A trusting relationship is a precursor to constructive feedback — both parties know the other is genuinely invested in their growth, believes in their potential and knows personal growth ultimately contributes to the broader organizational goal.

Find the original article here.