HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Higher education faculty and staff from 29 states participated in Friday’s inaugural mentoring symposium hosted by the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine.

The symposium, titled “Mentoring Across the Continuum: Incorporating Inclusive Practice to Foster Student Success,” was designed to help mentors and mentees develop more inclusive mentoring practices that result in improved competencies that support individual and career advancement. During the daylong virtual conference, attendees heard from a variety of speakers including plenary presenters David Acosta, M.D., chief diversity and inclusion officer for the Association of American Medical Colleges; Lakshmi A. Devi, Ph.D., a professor at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; and Sally L. Hodder, M.D., associate vice president for clinical and translational science at West Virginia University and the director of the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute. 

“The value of a symposium like this demonstrates the visible commitment of the academic institution to mentoring and continuous learning, providing a platform for health care educators and researchers across the country to share the most insightful knowledge in mentoring,” said Darshana T. Shah, Ph.D., the symposium organizer and associate dean for faculty advancement and professor of pathology at the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine. “I am grateful to the many mentors who have been instrumental in my personal and professional growth. I believe in paying it forward, and it is my turn to help others grow.”

Conference participants learned how to apply evidence-based strategies for effective mentoring, learned to incorporate more inclusive strategies into their mentoring styles and gathered guidance from vetted subject-matter experts.

To learn more about mentoring initiatives at the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine visit jcesom.marshall.edu/faculty-staff/faculty-advancement. For news and information about the School of Medicine, follow us on Twitter @MUSOMWV, like us on Facebook or visit jcesom.marshall.edu.

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Media Contact: Sheanna Spence, Director of External Affairs, Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, 304-691-1639

Date Posted: Tuesday, May 17, 2022