OWL mentoring program grows after AAO meeting

(From left) Georgette Pascale, President and CEO of Pascale Communications, LLC, and Heather Ready of USGI Surgical attend the OWL networking event.

A newly launched OWL mentoring program got off to a successful start at the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting, with 20 members expressing interest in becoming involved in the program.

That amount brings the total number of members involved in the program to 47, according to Marsha D. Link, PhD. Eighteen OWL members have already been paired as mentors/mentees and nine potential mentors are waiting to be paired with mentees. At the OWL reception and panel discussion, “Drive Your Development Through Mentoring,” held in conjunction with the joint meeting of the AAO and the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology, Dr. Link discussed the program and led a panel of two paired OWL mentor/mentees.

“Mentoring … is a very logical extension of OWL’s mission,” Dr. Link said. “And each of you know, as an OWL member, that the mission is to facilitate networking and promote professional development. Mentoring is a wonderful idea and wonderful foundation for bringing professional development from within.”

Mentoring relationships allow mentors and mentees to organize and develop professional goals in a directed manner, she said. Mentees establish goals, which the mentor then helps implement through a joint venture.

“Mentoring is not just calling each other up and talking about the weather or what social event you went to. In this model of 21st century mentoring, it’s intentional, customized and goal-oriented,” she said.

However, the relationship is not all about the mentor giving and the mentee receiving, Dr. Link said. The new mentoring relationship is reciprocal, with both mentees and mentors learning from each other. The mentoring program lets mentors impart knowledge about failures and successes, helping teach mentees how to succeed.

“Mentoring has the potential for helping us share with one another and partner with one another in ways that really increase our self-awareness. And it also increases the benefit to the mentor and the mentee,” Dr. Link said. “None of us who are in this room are, I like to use the phrase, ‘fully cooked.’ We’re all simmering. And so mentoring is an ideal way to keep that growth and development going.”

Mentoring relationships are intended to function long-term, allowing for change as goals are reached and careers are enhanced by the exchange. Trust, respect and confidentially are important factors in successful mentoring relationships, Dr. Link said.

“It allows for candor, it allows for testing, it allows for give-and-take if trust and respect are established from the beginning,” she said.

	(From left) Penny A. Asbell, Roxanna Ursea, Jane Aguirre, Isabelle Bart, Marsha Link

At the panel discussion, mentoring pairs Isabelle Bart, along with mentor Jane Aguirre, and Roxana Ursea, MD, along with mentor Penny A. Asbell, MD, FACS, MBA, spoke about their relationships since the program was started.

“In some ways, it’s like being a mother,” Dr. Asbell said. “I’m thinking about the things I did wrong, and I want the next generation to do even better, so I’m looking forward to helping. And it’s a great way to make new friends.”

Dr. Ursea said she is looking forward to developing a long-term mentoring relationship with Dr. Asbell.

“Having a mentor makes a difference,” she said. “It’s not enough to be hard-working, it’s not enough to do everything in your power, there are so many other things, there are so many factors that are important.”

For more information about the mentoring program, contact Molly Schar at mschar@owlsite.org.

— Erin L. Boyle, Staff Writer, Ocular Surgery News