Martin P. Levin Distinguished Mentorship Award: Reflections on Mentorship in Pediatric Psychology: Key Issues and Implications

I regard this award as a significant honor, and I would like to acknowledge the Society of Pediatric Psychology (SPP), the extraordinary generosity of the Levin family, and the efforts of my own mentors, most especially Dick Lanyon, Bruce Cushna, Gail Gardner, and Don Routh. This occasion has afforded me the opportunity to reflect on mentoring on a personal level and to address the implications of mentoring for the field of pediatric psychology. To provide context concerning my current mentorship experience, at this time I am mentoring faculty psychologists and physicians at various stages of their careers, graduate students, and fellows. In my current position as director of a division of behavioral pediatrics and psychology within a department of pediatrics in an academic medical center, I provide research mentorship to students in a graduate program that specializes in pediatric psychology (Drotar, 1998) and mentorship for students’ clinical work in a department of pediatrics (Drotar & Zagorski, 2001). This discussion focuses on three key questions that have been drawn from these experiences. What are the challenges to the career development of pediatric psychologists? What characteristics of effective mentoring relationships will help our students best meet these challenges? What strategies are needed to enhance the quality of mentorship in the field of pediatric psychology? This discussion of mentoring is intended primarily for those with academic careers as pediatric psychologists.