Focus on Physicians:
Insights, Ideas, and Strategies
Physician Coaching or Mentoring: What’s the Difference?
As a physician coach, I am often asked to explain the difference between coaching and mentoring.
The main difference is this: A mentor generally acts as an advisor. A coach does not give you the answers, but will collaborate with you to help you find and follow your own path.
An earlier version of this article appeared on this site in May, 2023.
As a physician coach, I am often asked to explain the difference between coaching and mentoring. It’s an important question, especially when you are thinking about investing in a coach. Both coaches and mentors can help you think more intentionally about your professional life and move toward goals that matter to you.
Coaching and mentoring have some important things in common, but they also work in meaningfully different ways.
Simply put, a mentor usually offers advice based on experience. Unlike a mentor, a coach does not need to have specific expertise in your specialty. Instead, in coaching you are considered the expert in your own life. A coach guides you to step back, think more clearly, and decide what is right for you.
Sometimes a combination of both coaching and mentoring can be helpful. In this article, we’ll go over the differences between the two, and how each can help you to achieve your goals and dreams.
Coaching vs Mentoring: The Core Differences
A mentor is usually someone with more experience in an area you want to explore. They may have followed a path similar to the one you are considering, so they can share what worked, what did not, and what they wish they had known. They will often give you specific guidance and direction.
A coach takes a different approach. Rather than telling you what to do, a coach asks questions that help you sort through your own thoughts, priorities, and possibilities. Through this process, you’ll develop your own meaningful goals that support the life that you envision for yourself.
That does not mean a coach simply sits back and listens. A coach may offer observations, help you notice patterns, challenge assumptions, and support you in creating a realistic plan. But the goal is not to steer you toward a particular answer. It is to help you find the answer that fits your life.
What happens in physician coaching?
Coaching often begins with taking a closer look at what matters most to you.
What are your values? What is working well? What feels out of balance? What is the life that you are hoping to build, and what might be getting in the way?
From there, you and your coach can identify meaningful goals and begin turning them into practical next steps. Those goals may change over time as you gain clarity or discover new options.
Physician coaching usually starts with a professional concern, but personal life and well-being often become part of the conversation. That is not surprising. For most physicians, career decisions are closely connected to family, health, identity, finances, and quality of life.
A coach also brings neutrality to the process. A mentor, colleague, or supervisor may have ideas about what you should do next. They may even be invested in the outcome. Coaching offers more freedom to explore a wider range of possibilities.
Why do physicians seek coaching?
A physician may seek coaching for many different reasons. Some examples include:
As you can see, these are often complex topics that do not have straightforward or defined answers. The process and outcome will be different for each person, depending on their own unique desires, circumstances, and stage of life.
Two physicians dealing with burnout, for example, may be seeking very different solutions. One may want to change schedules or responsibilities. Another may be considering a new role or leaving clinical practice altogether.
Coaching creates a safe space to explore what is meaningful and possible for you, and to envision a future that aligns with your hopes and dreams.
Mentorship: Guidance from experience
Mentoring is often especially helpful when you have a specific goal and want guidance from someone who has already done something similar.
You might seek a mentor if you want to:
Learn a new procedure
Build a research career
Move into leadership
Navigate promotion
Develop an area of expertise
Start or grow a medical practice
A mentor can explain how things work, introduce you to the right people, and help you avoid common mistakes.
Mentorship can be especially important early in a physician’s career, but it can also be valuable later on. Many physicians seek new mentors when they take on an unfamiliar role or move into a new area of interest. But that can also be a valuable time to engage a coach.
How coaching and mentoring can work together
Coaching and mentoring are different, but you do not have to choose only one.
A physician moving into leadership might work with a mentor who understands the organization and can offer practical advice. At the same time, a coach might help that physician think through communication, boundaries, confidence, and the kind of leader they want to become.
A physician experiencing burnout might talk with a mentor about optimizing a clinic schedule or revising a practice role. A coach could help explore the larger questions underneath the burnout.
Which one do you need?
Mentoring may be the better fit when you are asking:
How is this usually done?
What specific steps should I take?
Are there skills that I need to develop or hone?
Who should I meet with?
What mistakes should I avoid?
What do I need to know about this field or organization?
Coaching may be more helpful when you are asking:
What do I really want?
Why do I feel stuck?
What is getting in the way?
What matters most to me now?
How do I make a decision I can feel good about?
How do I turn my intentions into action?
Empowering physicians: The coaching experience
As a physician, you may find yourself spending so much time responding to other people’s needs and expectations that it can be difficult to step back and think about your own life. Coaching creates that space.
Coaching can help you see a situation more clearly, recognize choices you may not have considered, and move forward with greater confidence.
If you have questions about coaching and how it might work for you, please contact me through the website, or schedule your complimentary 30 minute discovery session.
If you’ve enjoyed this article and would like to stay in the loop for more insights on creating a sustainable, fulfilling, and happy life as a physician, sign up for my newsletter or reach out on my website. I’d love to hear from you.