Capturing Acquired Wisdom, Enabling Healthful Aging, and Building Multinational Partnerships Through Senior Global Health Mentorship

• Published in: Global health science and practice Vol. 8; no. 4; pp. 626 - 637
• Main Authors: Coleman, C Norman, Wong, John E, Wendling, Eugenia, Gospodarowicz, Mary, O'Brien, Donna, Ige, Taofeeq Abdallah, Aruah, Simeon Chinedu, Pistenmaa, David A, Amaldi, Ugo, Balogun, Onyi-Onyinye, Brereton, Harmar D, Formenti, Silvia, Schroeder, Kristen, Chao, Nelson, Grover, Surbhi, Hahn, Stephen M, Metz, James, Roth, Lawrence, Dosanjh, Manjit
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Global Health: Science and Practice 23.12.2020
• ISSN: 2169-575X; 2169-575X
• DOI: 10.9745/ghsp-d-20-00108

The undeniable benefit of mentorship by experience senior mentors can meaningfully increase the breadth of their experience and contributions to society as well as address the dire inequality in global health. This model captures wisdom lost to retirement, enables opportunities for purposeful lifespan, underpins sustainable health care systems, and has the potential for building multinational partnerships. Capturing the acquired wisdom and experience of mentors in global health offers a capstone for their careers and provides a purposeful healthspan for these professionals to continue to be engaged in meaningful work while leveraging their expertise to solve challenging health care problems. Senior professionals can mentor early career leaders to help them balance their professional commitments, interest in global health, and development of needed skills, such as understanding the nuances of cultural competence and adapting solutions to different environments. Institutional leaders, particularly in academic medical centers, recognize the importance of global engagement vis-à-vis their educational mission and for recruiting and retaining faculty and can benefit economically and programmatically from supporting experienced senior faculty or retirees to support these efforts. Program builders should include the opportunity for altruistic human service as an integral part of a career and highlight that they can access senior mentors and retirees who provide world-class expertise and mentorship at “volunteer prices.”