SROA SoundBoard - Patty Saponaro

Patty Saponaro, Associate Chair for Administration at UNC Radiation Oncology in Chapel Hill, NC, joins SROA Soundboard to share her experiences. She recalls her presentation from the SROA 2021 Annual Meeting, what mentoring means, and explains why the mentor/mentee relationships are important. 

Listen to hear more about:

• Why did you give the presentation “Mentored and Being Mentored” at SROA’s Annual Meeting? (0:30)
• You’re about to retire in a few months. Looking back retrospectively, how would you say mentorship helped you in your career? (1:09)
• Can you clarify what you mean by how it’s a way to touch the future? (2:00)
• Are you currently mentoring someone for succession planning for the role that you are going to be vacating? (2:45)
• Do you think that happens very often, where someone is retiring and they are thinking about succession planning? (3:27)
• Does any mentor stand out in particular to you? (4:53)
• Can you elaborate on the differences between formal mentorship and informal mentorship? (7:02)
• Why is it important to have a charter? (10:04)
• Why do you suggest that the mentor ask the mentee about why they want to be mentored? (11:35)
• Do you have examples of probing questions mentors can ask mentees? (13:50)
• Why is it important for the mentee take the lead? (15:18)
• Do mentorship relationships fail sometimes? If so, why? (16:50)
• What key things would you like mentors to keep in mind as they undertake mentoring someone? (18:32)
• What should mentees remember when seeking out and engaging in mentorship? (20:01)
• What parting advice would you give to our listeners? (21:38)