Early Career Research Leadership Program (ECRLP)

The Early Career Research Leadership Program (ECRLP) was launched in 2021 with the goal of fostering career development in urogynecology research by providing participants with mentorship and research training related specifically to research proposal development and grant writing.

The program began with a series of educational webinars and networking opportunities and has expanded to include a mentoring program.

Early Career Research Mentoring Program

The PFD Research Foundation (PFDRF) Early Career Leadership Research (ECRL) Mentorship Program is open to AUGS members who are either (a) junior faculty within approximately 7 years of fellowship or (b) seeking to reincorporate research into their career after a time without active research projects. The ECRL Mentorship Program offers participants the opportunity to increase their access to experienced research and career mentors outside of their institution. The mentee-mentor relationships developed via the ECRL program can be focused on a variety of topics with the goal of aligning the mentor’s self-identified strengths to the needs of the mentee.

The PFD Research Foundation is seeking both interested mentors and mentees who are looking for a mutually rewarding mentorship experience.

This program will provide both large group mentoring scheduled and hosted by the PFD Research Foundation and small group and/or individual mentoring opportunities.

The mentorship program will kick off its first mentoring cycle on or around the 2022 AUGS/IUGA Scientific Meeting and conclude with a group mentoring program this fall.

Mentors and mentees will be paired based upon interest in the following domains. Possible mentoring topics for each domain are listed below.

Important Dates

Deadline for Mentor/Mentee Applications: March 31^st

Program Start Date: June 20^th (Kick Off Event to be held virtually or in person on or around the 2022 AUGS/IUGA Scientific Meeting scheduled for June 14-18)

Program End Date: October 2022 (In person or virtual group mentoring event to be schedule for Fall 2022)

Mentee Information

Mentees must be motivated to take an active role in the mentee-mentor relationship which may involve setting up meetings, preparing lists of topics for discussion, etc.

All applicants must:

Be an active AUGS member in good standing
Be an MD or DO (+/-PhD)
Be within approximately 7 years of completion of FPMRS fellowship and/or have a desire to incorporate research into their work
Have submitted the mentee application by March 31, 2022

Participate as a Mentee

Mentor Information

Mentor/mentee pairings will either be one-on-one or small mentoring “pods” with 2 mentors and 2-3 mentees depending upon interest in the program. Mentors are expected to meet one-on-one or with their “pods” approximately 2-3 times during the mentoring period from June – October 2022. Mentees will be responsible for scheduling mentor meetings and preparing lists of topics for discussion.

All applicants must:

Be an active AUGS member in good standing
Be an MD or DO (+/-PhD) with a faculty appointment
Have submitted the mentor application by March 31, 2022

Benefits of Mentoring:

The primary motivation to be a mentor was well understood by Homer: the natural human desire to share knowledge and experience. Some other reasons for being a good mentor:

Achieve satisfaction. For some mentors, their greatest joy is having a mentee succeed and eventually become a friend and colleague.
Attract good colleagues. The best mentors are most likely to be able to recruit -and keep - colleagues of high caliber who can help produce better research, papers, grant proposals, and health for the population.
Stay on top of your field. There is no better way to keep sharp professionally than to coach junior colleagues.
Develop your professional network. In making contacts for your mentee, you strengthen your own contacts and make new ones.
Extend your contribution. The results of good mentoring live after you, as new continue to contribute even after you have retired.

Serve as a Mentor