Author: Emma Frawley
This module equips emergency medicine learners and teachers with a comprehensive, actionable framework for understanding, developing, and sustaining high-quality mentorship and sponsorship relationships, with particular attention to the reality that these are not interchangeable and that women in medicine — particularly women of color — frequently face inequitable access to both. Participants will explore the distinctions between mentorship, advisorship, and sponsorship, analyze gender-based and racial disparities in access to each, and examine how structural inequities and cultural biases shape those disparities.
This module is designed to shift participants from passive, organic mentorship models toward intentional, structured, and equitable practice. Participants will engage with research on these disparities and develop concrete tools to evaluate their current networks, cultivate sponsors, and construct a personal "mentorship board." By the end of this module, participants will be able to distinguish mentorship, sponsorship, and advisorship, build practical mentoring and networking skills, and identify institutional practices that foster equitable mentorship and sponsorship cultures.
Objectives
Distinguish between mentorship, sponsorship, and advisorship. Analyze their unique contributions to professional development.
Understand and reflect on the gendered and racial differences in access to high value mentorship and sponsorship.
Develop strategies for effective mentoring, navigating difficult conversations, and identifying potential sponsors.
Identify policies and cultural norms that promote high quality mentorship and sponsorship in your institution.
The following resources serve as the core materials for this module, ranging from scoping reviews to practical management guides:
Objective 1: Definitions, Roles, and Distinctions
Objective 2: Gender, Equity, and Disparities in Mentorship and Sponsorship
Objective 3: Becoming an Effective Mentor and Cultivating Sponsors
Objective 4: Institutional Strategies and Culture Building
Designed for personal journaling or pre-meeting preparation.
Mentorship Self Assessment Tool
Sponsorship Network Mapping Exercise
Mentorship Board Construction
Personal Action Plan
Designed for RAFT meetings, subdivided by module objectives.
General Discussion Questions:
What distinguishes mentorship from sponsorship in your experience?
How have mentorship and sponsorship shaped your career so far?
Where do you see gaps in mentorship culture within your department or institution?
How do structures in emergency medicine make it easier (or harder!) to cultivate sponsors?
Objective-Specific Discussion Questions