Division 54 is committed to the professional development of members at all stages of their careers. As part of this commitment, Past President Mary Jo Kupst established mentoring as one of her presidential initiatives. The response to this initiative since 2005 has been outstanding. Since the inception of the project, we have had over 400 members become involved across the country. Division 54 views this process as “extended networking” as mentoring is provided primarily through email or phone calls, with matches made between individuals across the country. However, at times, matches have been “local” and a number have broadened their connection through joint research projects or professional presentations.

Become a Mentor

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Results from a survey conducted by the Mentoring Task Force indicated that the overwhelming majority of pediatric psychologists were willing to serve as a mentor for a student or early career psychologist. If you are interested in becoming a mentor, please use this link to answer a short survey of questions to begin the process. You will be matched with a student or junior colleague who is interested in mentorship.

Connect With a Mentor

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According to the Mentoring Task Force survey, 99 percent of respondents indicated that mentoring is “important” or “very important” to their professional development, and 75 percent indicated that they had someone they identified as a mentor. Further, about half of the respondents reported that they had different mentors for different areas of development (research, intervention, administration). Mentoring is available to trainees at any level, to early career professionals, and to others who feel they would benefit. If you are interested in being paired with a mentor, please use this link to answer a short survey of questions to begin the process.

If you are a graduate student, it is important to note that this connection does not replace your university-based supervisor or research chair; instead, this extended networking connection could help you with the professional development aspects of research such as pediatric psychology resources, ideas to consider, others already doing research in this area, etc. (with the expectation that students already have the scientific research foundation that is a hallmark of pediatric psychology as a health service profession).

Please contact the Mentoring Project Coordinator, Joanna Thome Patten, PsyD.,  with any additional questions.

Mentored Reviews for JPP

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The Journal of Pediatric Psychology has implemented a policy to provide an organized program and policy for students and fellows to receive mentorship in reviewing manuscripts for JPP. The JPP Mentoring Program for Junior Reviewers presents an opportunity to review the latest work in our field and is an extension of SPP's emphasis on mentoring. Moreover, this is a way for individuals to learn about the peer review process under supervision and to become established in their careers as a reviewer.

If you want to become involved in this process, let us know by emailing Susan Wood, the editorial assistant for JPP.

If you are:

• An ad hoc reviewer or editorial board member of JPP and would like to mentor a student or fellow reviewer.
• A student, fellow or junior faculty member who wants to review for JPP and receive mentorship but does not have access to a mentor who reviews

JPP staff will match you up and give you the opportunity to review. Please provide your email contact information to Susan Wood. It would also be useful to indicate three-five key words indicating content areas of research in which you would like to review manuscripts.

Eligibility

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The mentorship program is open only to Division 54 members (including student members). For membership information please visit the Division 54 membership page.