Alumni Mentorship Program Connects Leaders with Students and Alums.
As students begin the new school year at a critical time in public health, they will be able to gain valuable support on their career and professional development through the School of Public Health’s Alumni Mentorship Program (AMP).
Launched last year by Development and Alumni Relations and the Career and Practicum Office,
AMP matches participating second-year students—and now fellow alums—with alumni mentors who share similar academic and career interests. In addition to extending mentorship to alums of the school, the mentors can be SPH alums or trusted members of SPH’s advisory councils, such as the Dean’s Advisory Board or idea hub’s Advisory Council.
Over the course of one academic year (September through April), mentees will meet at least once per month with their mentor by phone, email, or in person. Mentors will share knowledge and insight on their professional background and experiences and help their mentees establish a plan to achieve their short and long-term career goals. Students or alums can receive support and feedback on a range of topics, including job applications, interviewing and networking, and personal development.
Each mentor and mentee is paired based on shared professional interests and areas of expertise. Mentees can also indicate on the application whether they are interested in being paired with a mentor who self-identifies as a person who is first generation, international, a person of color, LGBTQ, or a woman.
Nearly 200 people participated in AMP when it launched last year. Tamuyen Do (SPH’20), a recent MPH graduate, signed up for the program as a second-year student eager to learn more about clinical research careers in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Do was mentored by alum Mary-Lynn Fulton (SPH’99), head of clinical trial management at Vertex Pharmaceuticals in Boston and a past president of the Alumni Leadership Council, who helped Do identify positions that reflected her interests and connected her with recruiters at those companies.
“The most rewarding part of the mentorship program was that it provided me with an opportunity to develop a professional relationship with a professional who has been in my footsteps before and is able to provide insights on how to navigate not only the industry, but how I can apply what I learned at BUSPH to my career,” says Do, who currently work part-time at ndp I analytics, a Washington, DC-based economics and communications research firm while continuing to apply for clinical trials positions. “Overall, Mary-Lynn’s mentorship has made me feel more prepared and excited to join the biotech/pharmaceutical industry.”
Fulton says mentors have played a significant role in her own career, helping her develop leadership skills and advance positions in the pharmaceutical industry, and she is committed to providing the same support to the next generation of leaders. At Vertex, she created a peer mentoring program for the company’s Women in Leadership Employee Resource Network, which is now in its fourth year and includes more than 100 participants.
“I’ve been in the clinical trials industry for 30 years and love what I do, so it was fun to share my career journey and what I’ve learned over the years with Tamuyen,” says Fulton, who will serve as an AMP mentor this year, as well.
“It’s always hard to get a foot in the door as you are starting your career, especially right now with the pandemic and economy,” she says. “In addition to providing career advice, I believe it is a mentor’s responsibility to open doors for their BUSPH mentees by leveraging their network for informational chats and job opportunities.”
Andrew Chiao (SPH’20), a 4+1 student in BU’s BA/MPH program who also graduated in May, joined AMP to “broaden my network and meet someone who has been down the path I hope to take one day.” He says his mentor, Ramon Cancino (SPH’14), a family medicine physician at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, offered valuable suggestions to help Chiao frame his elevator pitch and prepare for interviews during his job search last spring.
“My newly refined elevator pitch became extremely valuable when I had seven virtual interviews in one day as a part of the final round of interviews for my current position,” says Chiao, who recently began his new role as a research analyst in the Health Sciences Department at NORC, a nonprofit social sincere research institute based at the University of Chicago. “I distinctly remember struggling at one point to phrase it, and Dr. Cancino provided honest, critical feedback which helped me improve it.”
“A good mentor is someone who keeps their ears and eyes open for opportunities for their mentees, even when their mentees are not in the room, and also someone who is able to move barriers out of a mentee’s way,” says Cancino. One of his own key mentors, Brian Jack, chief and associate professor of family medicine at Boston Medical Center, is now someone Cancino calls a friend and a colleague.
Cancino says he also enjoyed helping Chiao solve problems that he encountered in his career.
“I enjoyed watching Andrew develop and learn about himself through this experience, and tried to be a non-biased sounding board for all of his wonderful ideas,” says Cancino, who will serve as an AMP mentor again this year. Particularly in medicine, he says, “mentors can not only guide others towards goals but also can help develop strong leaders who will eventually make decisions that may impact thousands of patient lives.”
The 2021-2022 AMP program will launch on September 1, 2021. To learn more about the work of SPH alums, click here. To get involved, give back, or learn more about SPH’s 10,000+ member network, click here.