Being a mentee: Aamir Shaikh
I met my mentor Aamer Safdar whilst working at Kings College London. I was the 3rd year Professional Lead, and was introduced to him and he told me about his background, both personal and professional. Just by listening to him, I knew that his values were similar to my own.
Challenge
I now work at BUPA as the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer's Clinical Fellow, but before that I worked within the Education Directorate at RPS. It was there I worked alongside Aamer in projects involving undergraduates. You will hear that pharmacy is a small world and this is one such example! My manager explained how it is important to work alongside colleagues who will challenge your thinking and I found this in Aamer. Our mentor/mentee relationship first established when we went out for dinner as a post-work group; it was here when I decided to formalise my mentor/mentee relationship with him.
Benefits
I’ve benefited greatly from the mentor/mentee relationship. It’s given me thinking space but its been advantageous to both my personal and professional life to have someone to challenge my own thinking in whatever situation or scenario I am experiencing. In our last meeting Aamer and I spoke about authenticity, congruence and integrity. I found it particularly useful hearing from someone in Aamer’s position, a current GPhC Council member and previous RPS English Pharmacy Board member, about how important it is to stay true to your own values and what these values really mean.
We use the RPS mentor platform to record our meetings and have found that, as well as the normal methods of keeping in touch, the platform has been beneficial in keeping us focused. I couldn’t stress the importance of having a mentor enough. It has really helped me focus whenever I have found myself in a sticky situation and I’m grateful for the time Aamer has shared with me.
Being a Mentor: Aamer Safdar
I have been a mentor to many people inside and outside of pharmacy and have used a variety of methods with my mentees which have included traditional face to face sessions as well as mentoring exclusively by email and by phone; in the latter two cases, I never met my mentees in real life until much later in our relationships!
I currently mentor two pharmacists, at different stages in their careers, using the RPS mentoring platform. The platform is useful because I have outlined the areas in which I would like to mentor in to manage my mentees’ expectations.
Sharing experiences
In both of my meetings, we spoke about our careers and challenges at different levels and I was able to share my experiences and wisdom from both my day job and from being in national boards. Much of my wisdom has come from my own mentors, who have been different people at different stages of my career,and with different perspectives and advice. Without a mentor to bounce things off, I doubt I would have done many of the things I have done in my career.
Find out more about our mentoring scheme exclusively for members