Excellence in Career Mentoring Award highlights value of outstanding mentors
Penn State College of Medicine values the contributions mentors make to enhance and develop the careers of our faculty, students and trainees. The Excellence in Career Mentoring Award was established in order to recognize the contributions of outstanding mentors in the College of Medicine. These awards acknowledge the exceptional effort of faculty who enable and empower students, residents and trainees, junior faculty and peers on their path to achieve their full potential.
The Office of Faculty and Professional Development and the Career Mentoring Awards Review Committee was overwhelmed with nominations of committed mentors from across the College. We would like congratulate and acknowledge the significant contributions of all nominees, and note that decisions were difficult.
We are very pleased to present the 2023 Excellence in Career Mentoring Awards to the following individuals:
2023 Clinical Science Master Mentor – Full Professor
Matthew T. Moyer, MD, MS, Professor of Medicine
Moyer’s nominators included Kayla Hartz, Nauroz Syed, Andrew Tinsley and Thomas Ma. He is Professor of Medicine and a faculty member in the Division of Gastroenterology. His nomination material reflects a commitment to mentoring broad range of mentees including medical students, residents, clinical fellows, graduate students and junior faculty. His mentoring is described “transformational,” “substantive” and “lifelong.” His chair notes, “He has worked tirelessly to guide [his mentees] to be the best they can be and achieve academic success.” He mentors learners at all levels, gives them autonomy and accountability, but does so in a “patient” and “compassionate” manner. Moyer is motivated by the success of his mentees, noting that the “periodic infusions of new and unbridled enthusiasm” brought by new learners is “contagious,” and his joy comes from watching his mentees present their successes.
2023 Clinical Science Mentor – Associate Professor
Raman Baweja, MD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health and Public Health Sciences
Baweja is Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, and Associate Vice chair for clinical scholarship in the Department of Psychiatry. His nominators included Erika Saunders, Elisabeth Kunkel, and Ailyn Diaz. Baweja is noted to have a broad range of mentees including junior faculty, residents and medical students. His chair notes, “He encourages each faculty member to develop their own clinical focus, identifies training experiences and leadership opportunities where they can develop and display their blossoming clinical expertise and integrate into our system in a way that optimizes both faculty growth and system benefit.” Under his leadership, overall academic productivity of the clinical faculty in the Department of Psychiatry have grown appreciably. His mentorship is described as “caring and thoughtful” and an “inspiration to junior faculty.” One nominator says, “Mentoring is often viewed as one of those extra tasks that faculty “have to do.” For Raman, it’s a part of who he is.”
2023 Clinical Science Mentor – Associate Professor
Julio Fernandez-Mendoza, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health
Fernandez-Mendoza is Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Vice Chair for Faculty Development in Research Scholarship in the Department of psychiatry and Behavioral Health, as well as a clinical psychologist the Sleep Research and Treatment center of Penn State Health. His nominators included Erika Saunders and Kristina Lenkar, and predoctoral candidates Caitlin Pauqet and Natasha Morales-Ghinaglia. His mentorship is described as “personal[ized],” “passionate, “effective,” “unwavering” and “above-and-beyond.” He mentors a broad range of trainees, doctoral students, and junior faculty both internal to Penn State and in the larger academic community. Mentees also note his commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging, and describe him as a reason for coming to, and staying at Penn State. Fernandez-Mendoza describes his approach to mentoring and “trainee-centered, goal-oriented…[and] a shared decision-making model.”
2023 Clinical Science Mentor – Associate Professor
Monika Joshi, MD, MRCP,Associate Professor of Medicine
Joshi is Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology-Oncology and the Penn State Cancer Institute. Her nominators included Mitchell Machtay, Hyma Polimera, and Monali Vasekar. She mentors a diverse range of faculty, fellows, residents and students. Her mentees have been very successful, and have gone onto receive prestigious awards and publish widely. She was described by multiple nominators as a “role model” and someone who “never turns down an opportunity to assist someone.” She creates a supportive learning environment, and leads by example, placing the “spotlight on [her] mentees.” Joshi notes, “the crucial elements of a successful mentorship are mutual trust, ongoing communication and active participation, and describes “a relationship where both mentee and mentors can continue to learn from each other.” Her mentees have achieved success in diverse areas, including Joshi’s primary area of GU clinical trials, as well in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging.
Awards are formally presented during EdVenture, scheduled for April 27, 2023.
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Past Awardees
Past recipients of the Excellence in Career Mentoring Award are listed here. Click the + next to recent awardees to read statements by those who nominated them.
Excellence in Career Mentoring Award Details
Nominations for the Faculty Excellence in Mentoring Award are open to faculty who meet the following criteria:
- Faculty must have held an appointment at Penn State College of Medicine for a minimum of three years, hold the rank of associate professor or professor, and be in good standing at the College of Medicine.
- Tenured, tenure-track or fixed-term faculty are eligible.
- Faculty who hold titles at the level of dean, vice dean, associate dean or chair are generally ineligible. Exceptions to this (i.e., recent appointments) will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
- Faculty in any leadership position must demonstrate mentorship excellence outside the usual functions of their job titles.
- This award can only be received once within a five-year period by an individual faculty member.
- Faculty should have mentored individuals at multiple levels.
- Basic scientists may have their primary appointment in a clinical science department. Individuals must self-identify whether they wish to be considered for the award as a basic or clinical scientist.
- Mentors must be nominated as an individual.
A successful candidate for the mentorship award at the College of Medicine will demonstrate one or more of the following characteristics:
- Ability to create a supportive environment for mentees’ development in at least one of the institutional mission areas.
- Commitment to mentorship and a track record of successful mentees.
- Evidence of mentorship skills that help mentees achieve advancement and/or promotion (for example, presentations, writing manuscripts, preparing grant applications.)
- Advocacy to help mentees navigate organizational and systems issues.
- Support of leadership development in mentees.
- Care for the personal and professional development of mentees.
If a candidate has scholarship in the area of mentorship, this should be addressed in the nomination letter.
Application Requirements
The following items must be included with the nominee’s application:
- Three formal nomination letters (no more than two single-spaced pages each) are required as follows, with at least one coming from someone currently employed by Penn State College of Medicine or Penn State Health.
- At least one letter must be from a current or prior mentee at Penn State College of Medicine or Penn State Health.
- At least one letter must be from a chair (or other senior designee who has the ability to comment on the applicant’s success in mentoring).
- A third nomination letter should be submitted from any person qualified to evaluate the mentorship capabilities of the candidate.
- Nominee’s current CV highlighting mentorship achievements, including publications or presentations with mentees, scholarship about mentorship, etc.
- A mentee table (list of current and prior mentees, current positions of mentees and mentee accomplishments; see example below). The table should illustrate a representative sample of up to 10 mentees upon whose career the nominee has had the most impact, over the past five to 10 years.
- A 500- to 600-word statement by the nominee describing their philosophy of mentoring and examples of how mentoring has impacted their career and that of their mentees.
Submission information will be posted when nominations are being accepted.
Sample Mentee Table
Nominations will be reviewed by a committee. Current committee members are:
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