Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) members have the opportunity to give and receive career guidance by participating in the Society’s Mentor Match program.
The SVS has expanded the program—originally designed for medical students and general surgery residents—to include all SVS members in good standing.
Mentors help mentees explore the specialty, grow in their careers and achieve professional goals, such as publishing and research opportunities, training pathways and involvement in a number of arenas, including within the SVS itself.
The program is run on the online, members-only SVSConnect platform. Its description tells members to “engage with fellow members, exchange ideas and cultivate relationships to help propel your career forward. Join the conversation today and unlock the power of networking on SVSConnect!”
Currently, approximately 35 mentees have the attention of nearly 20 mentors; some mentors have multiple mentees and some mentees have multiple mentors.
With a diverse trainee population, the program needs a varied group of mentors, from all practice types, and from all over the country and the world.
Christine Shokrzadeh, MD, regards the program as one of the top benefits of SVS membership. Now an attending vascular surgeon at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas, when she was still a trainee a more senior member helped her with a query about academic medicine.
Now, she said in a video, “I’m able to pay it forward by helping medical students and residents who are interested in a career in vascular surgery.”
Learn more and sign up at svsconnect.vascular.org.
