“We’re not stupid- we just need to be trained,” a general surgery section chief confided to me a few years ago.  He had been promoted to section chief based on his clinical competence and then realized that he needed to communicate, negotiate, and resolve conflicts in ways that he had never learned in medical school or residency.

I began using the term “co-mentoring” to describe this process because I believe that each person brings valuable knowledge, experience, and wisdom to the table.  Although I was helping physicians with process skills to improve communication, negotiation, and conflict resolution, they taught me things that helped me refine my approach.  One of my physician colleagues has pointed out how important the co-mentoring prinicple is with physicians who are sensitive to hierarchy. 

Some of my most gratifying moments have been in co-mentoring relationships with physicians.  The section chief proved that he was not stupid by crafting a bold and far-reaching vision of where the section of general surgery needed to go.  The colleague who made the comment about sensitivity to hierarchy evolved from a “rock-throwing member of the medical staff to Vice President of Medical Affairs … striving to promote co-mentoring relationships.”

When I helped set up a physician co-mentoring program recently, I asked physicians, “What makes a great co-mentor?” They replied:

• Personal connection
• Passion
• Insight
• Availability
• Active listening
• Mutual respect
• Clear vision and expectations

We agreed that to set up a safe environment for learning, they needed to:

• Learn about each other’s background, training, families, and extracurricular interests during their first encounter
• Reassure each other that there are no dumb questions
• Share painful on-the-job learning moments
• Be proactive, contacting each other frequently in the beginning to ask how they could be of assistance to each other

I have found that through co-mentoring, we can create a new generation of physician leaders who can increase transparency, improve physician-physician and physician-administration collaboration, and minimize physician-hospital battles.

What do you think?

• Do you agree that physicians enjoy learning from fellow physicians
• Have you seen dividends for leadership emerge from physician co-mentoring
• Is co-mentoring a process worth the investment

I welcome your input.

Kenneth H. Cohn