Finding Mentors
Almost every physician has a love for teaching. Some are better at it than others, but take advantage of every opportunity that you can to broaden your knowledge base. Establish a rapport with the physicians, and they will respect you and even seek you out to teach you. Be a good student. Be prepared and ask appropriate questions. You also need to be astute and understand when the physician is rushed or the time is not right. These are informal mentoring situations. Don't push and don't take it personally that the M.D.s are not welcoming the opportunity at this moment.
Do your homework. When a physician has instructed you on a topic, do a little research to expand on what she has taught you. If you work in a teaching hospital, try to make occasional rounds with the interns, especially if this physician is teaching. If not, ask to accompany the physician as she makes her rounds of your unit. Share your knowledge with your coworkers so that they will be happy to cover your patients for a few minutes.
If you find information about a subject you have discussed with your mentors, share it with them and ask for their input. Perhaps it's something new that they haven't read yet, or maybe it's just additional information and they can fill in the gaps for you. Remember that not all physicians are cold blooded and uncaring. Most of them are very compassionate and helpful. They may appear to be aloof sometimes in order to set limits and be able to attend to all their patients. But usually they want to help you to be better able to help their patients.
