VHMA Mentor Program

What is a Mentor Program? 

The broad definition of mentor is: an experienced person who goes out of his/her way to help a mentee set important life goals and develop the skills to reach them.

An informal mentor provides coaching, listening, advice, sounding board reactions, or other help in an unstructured, casual manner. A formal or enhanced informal mentor agrees to an ongoing, planned partnership that focuses on helping the mentee reach specific goals over a designated period.

Objectives 

• Encourage the professional development of future veterinary practice managers
• Assist members with their career advancement strategies
• Tap into knowledge and expertise of veteran managers
• Encourage a more personalized approach to membership and involvement in VHMA
• Improve the networking benefits of VHMA through encouraging high quality, personal and professional coaching
• Provide a format for increased member involvement

Recruiting Mentors and Mentees 

Veteran VHMA members are asked to serve as mentors to other VHMA members for a six-month period.

Mentors would define themselves as a guide, advisor, coach, teacher and role model. By the mentor taking an interest in the personal and professional development of the mentee, an enriching experience for both parties can be provided.

Through one-on-one sessions, mentors will provide support, guidance and career advice on an “as needed” basis. A time commitment of up to two hours per month is expected of mentors.

Any qualifying VHMA member can apply to participate as a mentor or mentee in the program by completing a screening process administered by the Mentoring Program Committee. This process will assess the interests, expectations and needs of the individual mentee so that he/she may be matched with the appropriate mentor. Once they are paired, the mentor and mentee will enter into a mentorship “contract” to assure that all expectations and accountabilities have been discussed and agreed upon by both parties.

The mentoring process is viewed as a partnership, with both parties freely contributing to the discussion as equals working together, based upon mutual respect. Expectation or discussion of future or current career opportunities within the mentor or mentee’s company are deemed inappropriate under the program guidelines and are prohibited during the formal mentorship cycle. All information discussed by the mentoring pairs should remain strictly confidential.

We hope participants in the VHMA Mentor Program will find it to be one of the greatest benefits of VHMA membership. Participants will have the opportunity to:

• Expand their vision
• Broaden their networks
• Polish their skills
• Gain professional and personal achievement
• Gain greater exposure
• Mentoring Path

Common Mentoring Activities 

• Talking together (e.g., about the mentee’s past experiences, goals, plans, and skills as well as the mentor’s career path; useful problem-solving strategies);
• Attending meetings, conferences and other events together (and discussing these later);
• Working together on activities;
• Having the mentee observe the mentor handling challenging situations;
• Role-playing situations faced by the mentee; exchanging and discussing written materials (such as a document written by the mentee or an article valued by the mentor);
• Co-authoring a publication;
• Interacting with other people (including persons who could be of help to the mentee and other mentor-mentee pairs);
• Both parties should aim for realistic, focused goals and maximize their time by using the phone, e-mail, and other timesaving strategies; and

Mentors and mentees should talk honestly about their relationships, including expectations, limits, and preferred ways of interacting.

Qualifications 

Qualifications to participate in the VHMA Mentor Program as a MENTOR are as follows:

• Current VHMA membership.
• Employment as a veterinary practice manager, performing a scope of duties that qualify as practice management for a minimum of three (3) years within the previous seven (7) years.
• Current duties which include day-to-day practice management.
• A minimum of one (1) letter of recommendation as recognition of competence as a practice manager by an employer or peer.

Qualifications to participate in the VHMA Mentor Program as a MENTEE are as follows:

• Current VHMA membership.

Veterinary Hospital Managers Association, Inc.
PO Box 2280 Alachua, FL 32616-2280
Phone: (877) 599-2707 | (518) 433-8911 | Fax: (888) 795-4520
admin@vhma.org

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