Global Health Sciences

Guidelines for Global Health Masters Degree: Faculty Advisors and Fieldwork Mentors

All students will be assigned a faculty advisor who will meet regularly with their student mentees. At an early stage, the advisor will assess initial skills, learning needs, and student expectations of the course. The advisor will be responsible for reviewing course requirements, learning resources at UCSF, and preparing the student for the fieldwork project and for coursework in general. At a later stage, the advisor will assist in preparation for the qualifying and capstone examinations, assess skill development, and provide feedback on academic progress. At the end of each quarter, the advisor will submit to the Program Director an assessment of academic progress, the content of which will be known to the student.

In addition, the Program Mentor Director will assign a fieldwork mentor in the fall quarter, as soon as spring quarter fieldwork projects are identified. The fieldwork mentor will be specifically responsible for assisting with the design and execution of the fieldwork proposal. This task will also include liaison with the fieldwork site, coordination of site research and supervision, budget, practical matters, and human subjects review (if appropriate).

GHS faculty members have spent a large part of their careers with underserved populations in the USA or in resource poor countries abroad. A good mentor is a teacher, role model, advocate, and guide. Mentor-student relationships may last for years, and are a critical part of the learning experience. A mentor’s job will be to guide, stimulate, and be an academic advocate for the student.

In order to set expectations and facilitate the mentoring process, global health educational programs will instruct trainees on their responsibilities as mentees and define expectations of the mentoring relationship along the following lines:

Faculty Advisors

1. Shall meet regularly with their mentees and be available for urgent situations that arise
2. Should help the mentee network through the UCSF system
3. Should be a role model for the mentee and be sensitive to academic or personal problems that may interfere with the learning process
4. Should help the student assess their current skills and learning objectives
5. Should guide mentees to additional resources for academic or career advancement
6. Should provide feedback and academic guidance to assure satisfactory progress

Fieldwork Mentors

1. Shall assist mentees in defining an area of interest in global health relevant to career goals
2. Shall help mentees find a suitable field project and assist in securing the student’s continued supervision during the field experience
3. Should assist students in the design, conduct and analysis of their fieldwork project, helping with any questions that may arise in the formal courses or seminars
4. Should communicate regularly (by telephone, email) with mentee to review progress and assist with decisions about fieldwork
5. Shall help the student understand their fieldwork learning objectives (competencies) and guide them through a self-assessment to gauge their progress and learning goals
6. Should review and document specific aims, goals, and learning objectives when students leave for fieldwork. This should include the expectation of meeting with their on-site supervisor to discuss these aims, goals, and objectives
7. Should work with the student on their final project, advising on data gathering, analysis, presentation before a group, and scholarly publication

It is important to set up clear goals and expectations with the mentee early in the mentoring and advising relationship and then during each meeting to insure that the relationship is as valuable as possible for both the mentor and mentee.

Typical meeting between mentor/advisor and mentee

1. Set an agenda
   • Assess for any urgent issues
   • Assess problems or obstacles and their solutions
2. Set priorities
   • Review pending items
   • Assess time available
   • Prioritize tasks and timeline
3. Review progress and plans
   • Academic progress and/or fieldwork progress
   • Schedule next meeting