Young ESTRO 2020- Mentoring & Sponsorship in Radiation Oncology: Relational and Strategic Career Development.

Mentoring and sponsorship are concepts that are routinely suggested for radiation oncology trainees, but often trainees are left with few practical concrete practices to build mentorship and sponsorship networks. We will review literature regarding mentorship and sponsorship in radiation oncology and medical physics, with an eye towards practical career development in academia and clinical practice using goal-oriented relational approaches. We will discuss issues regarding mentor selection, mentor vs. sponsor support, mentoring models, and approaches to initiate and grow mentoring opportunities for physicians and physicists in early- to mid-career. Finally we will discuss mentoring pitfalls, equity in opportunity, and mentee-to-mentor transitions as use cases.