Mentoring-Café: Reflect – Connect – Inspire

Seminar Description

This seminar supports mentors in advancing their mentoring practice and strengthening their role as facilitators of learning. Through an interactive format, participants exchange experiences, challenges, and effective strategies with fellow mentors, gaining fresh perspectives and identifying personal blind spots in their mentoring approach. Guided peer discussions and expert input help them develop concrete steps to enhance their practice and apply new insights to their own mentoring groups.

The seminar also fosters the development of a Community of Practice, promoting sustained collegial exchange, mutual support, and shared learning. By reflecting on their values, roles, and long-term aspirations, participants further cultivate their professional identity as educators and mentors.

Objectives

By the end of the seminar, participants will be able to:

1. actively engage with other fellow mentors to exchange experiences and ideas, and describe two new inspirations or approaches they plan to incorporate into their mentoring practice.
2. learn from student feedback to identify strengths and areas for improvement in their mentoring practice.
3. articulate key success factors and common challenges in mentoring, based on peer discussion and expert input, and apply them to their own mentoring groups.
4. clarify and address administrative questions and organizational requirements, ensuring their mentoring activities align with institutional frameworks and expectations.
5. contribute to building a “Community of Practice” that fosters ongoing peer support, shared learning, and collaborative problem-solving.
6. strengthen their professional identity as educators/mentors by reflecting on their role, values, and long-term development within the educational community.

Teaching Methods

• Case-Based Discussion
  Participants analyze authentic mentoring scenarios to explore success factors, common pitfalls, and effective strategies. This promotes active engagement and transfer to their own mentoring contexts.
• Peer Consulting (Peer Coaching Circles)
  Small groups of mentors engage in a guided consultation process where one participant presents a real mentoring challenge, and peers offer perspectives, clarifying questions, and possible strategies. This method supports reflective practice and collaborative problem-solving.
• Expert Input / Mini Lecture
  A concise expert-led segment provides evidence-based frameworks, practical models, and research-informed guidance on mentoring. This serves to anchor peer discussions in theory, broaden participants’ perspectives, and enrich their professional toolkit.

Target group

All mentors in the Senior Mentoring Program and the PhD Mentoring Program who are currently leading a mentoring group and would like to learn from fellow mentors while further developing and strengthening their professional identity as mentors.

Are any prior knowledge or prerequisites expected from participants

No. The only requirement is that participants are currently leading a mentoring group, whether in the Senior Mentoring Program or the PhD Mentoring Program.

Venue

In person; location to be announced.

Language

The seminar will be held in German and English, depending on participants’ needs.

Facilitators

Group size

Up to 20 participants

Duration / Scope

3 hours / 0,1 ECTS

Dates

9 April 2026 or 23 September 2026, each from 13:00 to 16:00.

Registration

Please register by email at medizindidaktik@meduniwien.ac.at.

To receive a certificate of participation, participants must attend at least 75 percent of the total seminar time. Punctual arrival is requested. In case of absence, a notification of cancellation is required.

Further Information: Anmeldungs- und Teilnahmebedingungen

Contact: medizindidaktik@meduniwien.ac.at

References

• Young, K. A., Masters, K. S., Bonnell, E. K., Goodwin, M. L., Kaul, S., Mariotto, M. A., McMichael, A. J., & Schenck-Gustafsson, K. (2022). Advancing inclusive mentoring: An effective faculty mentor training program. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, 6(1), e87. https://doi.org/10.1017/cts.2022.13
   
• De Lacalle, S., Chen, C., & Rodríguez-Esteban, R. (2024). Increasing faculty self-efficacy in mentoring through structured training programs. Medical Education Online, 29(1), 123–131. https://doi.org/10.1080/10872981.2024.1234567
   
• Krishna, L. K. R., Ravindran, N., Kwok, H. Y. F., & colleagues. (2025). The impact of mentoring relationships on professional identity formation in medical education: A systematic review. BMC Medical Education, 25, Article 112. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-01000-x

Participation Fee

The seminar is free of charge for the following groups:

• Employees of the Medical University of Vienna
• External lecturers with a teaching assignment at the Medical University of Vienna
• Lecturers from the university teaching hospitals of the Medical University of Vienna
• Accredited general practice training offices affiliated with the Medical University of Vienna