Mentoring: the VA experience

Jill Conner Browne advocates in her book, "Sweet Potato Queens Book of Love," that women need five men in their lives: one to talk to, one to fix things, one to dance with, one to pay for things, and you can guess the duties of the fifth one [4]. [...]the aspiring 21st century surgeon may need at least four mentors: one for clinical surgery, one for research, one for personal life, and one for "community service." The VA has preeminent programs in basic, clinical, outcomes, and health services research that combine project funding along with career development funding.