About the Program

Over the last few years, the way we work, study, and connect has evolved. To adapt to these changes, we have updated our Alumni Mentorship Program to be more flexible and provide more resources for our Penn Medicine community. The Alumni Mentorship+ Program is an easy-to-use online platform designed to cultivate meaningful connections among the global Penn Medicine community. Alumni, trainees, and students can use the platform to connect with one another in various ways. 

Penn Medicine Development and Alumni Relations (PMDAR) has purposefully designed Mentorship+ to be flexible for busy alumni, trainees, and students. Mentors and mentees have complete control over how they utilize the program. 

The traditional one-on-one mentoring program is still at the core of Mentorship+.  Alumni from all degree programs and current/former GME trainees may participate as either Mentors or Mentees; current students may participate as mentees. These mentoring relationships are meant to provide valuable support and guidance to Mentees as they navigate medical school, explore career paths, or consider further education and training. 

Mentors and Mentees who are looking for brief or more temporary connections or seeking an answer to a one-off question will enjoy the Mentorship+ Community channels, which function as message boards for all Mentorship+ users to interact – publicly, through postings or private messages about different topics. To start, we have created Communities for regional networks and popular career paths. Users are also encouraged to request new Community topics and will also have the opportunity to moderate discussions if they choose. 

Additionally, the Host Our Student as they Travel (HOST) Program, a resource that has allowed alumni to help offset the financial burden of traveling for interviews by offering medical students and Penn Medicine residents free housing, meals, and transportation in the vicinity of their interview sites, has been integrated into Mentorship+. Most residency programs now offer virtual interviews, so fewer students have needed travel assistance over the past few years. However, we wanted to preserve the option for alumni to serve as hosts for students and trainees who choose to travel for residency or fellowship interviews, second looks, or conferences. When filling out their profiles, Mentors will now be able to opt in to host or provide resources to a student or resident who is traveling. Mentors will also include information in their profile such as accommodations they are willing to provide, nearest hospitals, hospital affiliations, pets in their home and preferences on spouses/partners staying in their home to help you decide with whom to connect.