Mentoring at a distance
Remote mentoring connects writers and mentors across locations through video, email and telephone. Clear goals, planned contact and attention to communication help the relationship develop without shared office time.
Reach and constraints
Virtual mentoring may take more time and effort to build than a traditional face-to-face relationship within one organisation, but gives new medical writers global access to mentors. It offers flexibility for busy mentors and time to think through questions or problems sent by email. Geographic time differences, cultural differences and technology problems can complicate the exchange.
By June 2021, expanded use of video conferencing, especially during COVID-19, had made virtual mentoring an option alongside traditional face-to-face meetings. Many people were adjusting to online mentoring and the initial awkwardness of meeting platforms, while pandemic-related mentoring strategies for scientists and medical students were appearing in biomedical literature. New writers may find remote work particularly challenging because medical writing can be lonely and high-pressure, with shifting timelines and short deadlines; support for their professional and personal development can help them start successfully.
Trust and communication
Mentor and mentee must be committed to the exchange and accountable, and frequent meetings with stories of successes and failures can build trust. Living in different regions or countries provides a starting point for casual conversation and relationship building. Language is typically not a barrier because many medical writers from non-English-speaking backgrounds are adept at speaking and writing English, but language barriers remain a potential difficulty.
Participants should try video conferencing where possible for direct eye contact and effective listening. Trying different communication modes can help establish what works best, while avoiding multitasking and interruptions improves communication. Words need particular care when the medium does not convey body language or tone of voice.
Mentees need to be honest about strengths and weaknesses to build a trusting virtual relationship. They should explain why medical writing interests them and where they see their career in five or ten years, or make clear that they are exploring writing alongside other interests; recognising a poor career fit can itself be valuable advice.
The virtual mentoring plan
Specific goals and expectations are fundamental to a successful virtual mentorship, and an in-depth virtual discussion should help identify and refine goals for a written plan. Developing the plan takes time and effort and should be an early priority.
The mentee’s desired support shapes its content, whether improving writing, learning document types, understanding pharmaceuticals or drug development, finding a job with a particular company or building career networks. The mentor should assess whether goals are specific and achievable in light of their own knowledge and experience and a preliminary assessment of the mentee.
The plan should record meeting frequency, the aim of each meeting, planned activities and discussions, and a timeline showing whether the relationship is short- or long-term. An agenda for each meeting supports professional preparation. Scheduling frequency and duration in advance and preparing topics gives conversations structure, while availability for impromptu meetings and room for unplanned questions preserve flexibility.
Both participants should be transparent about expectations and limitations, and the mentor should state availability, communication policies and limits in the plan. A structured plan can help a busy mentor understand the scope of the role and feel more confident about taking it on. Open discussion of these arrangements reduces assumptions and the potential for misunderstandings.
Activities, recordings and wider connections
Competency assessments and discussions can take place through email, virtual meetings or telephone calls. Mentors can share relevant articles, social media posts and webinars, and attending the same webinar gives both a later discussion topic where the mentee may feel more comfortable asking questions.
Many meeting platforms can record conversations and shared documents or slides, reducing note-taking and allowing fuller participation. Recordings can help prepare later meetings and review progress, and an intention to record can be documented in the plan.
The plan can include introductions to other experts, such as a statistician, pharmacokinetics expert or clinical investigator. Virtual mentoring makes global expert connections easier, and early contacts often become long-term working relationships. Mentors experienced in remote work often have worldwide connections and may know of vacancies or companies willing to employ new writers, sometimes on their recommendation, and can introduce mentees to potential employers worldwide.