PEDS Lab Mentorship Philosophy
Drs. Faith and Schuck take a developmental approach to mentorship and supervision. We truly value opportunities to mentor our PEDS Lab team members. We also believe mentorship is most effective in the context of a trusting, supportive mentor-mentee relationship. Our goal is to help our team members reach their professional goals, whether those goals include earning a doctoral degree in psychology, attending medical school, or pursuing other career aspirations. We strive to offer our lab members opportunities to co-author published manuscripts as well as opportunities to present our lab's research at national conferences via posters and symposia. We strongly value work-life balance and model supervision to reflect the importance of integrating and respecting each person's professional and personal values and goals. Drs. Faith and Schuck frequently meet with team members to provide mentorship and direct feedback about graduate school applications/personal statements, building a strong and cohesive research publication record, developing professional writing skills, and balancing academic and clinical demands. 

Lab Training
Lab training includes a full curriculum of structured learning modules, which are completed both on-campus with lab leadership as well as at home to reinforce learning. We take a scaffolding approach to helping new lab members gain skills and confidence in the lab. During and following the training curriculum, new lab members shadow lab leaders before progressing to performing lab tasks under direct supervision and finally independently performing lab duties. All lab members must officially "check out" on lab tasks prior to beginning independent work. As part of lab involvement, all team members receive training in study protocols and procedures as well as qualitative analysis. Our lab frequently discusses research ethics as well as considerations for working with vulnerable populations. Lab members have opportunities to complete basic and advanced training in motivational interviewing (MI), which is a psychotherapeutic intervention to help people make challenging behavioral changes (e.g., adhering to a new medical regimen, improving nutrition and physical activity, adhering to psychotherapy recommendations, implementing new ways of disciplining a child, discontinuing substance abuse). The basic MI workshop is a skills-based, 4-hour workshop. Workshops typically include 6-22 learners from multidisciplinary backgrounds (e.g., physicians, nurses, psychologists, social workers, dieticians, audiologists, physical therapists) and occur multiple times throughout the year. The basic MI workshop is intended to provide learners with concrete MI skills that learners can employ with patients and families. The advanced MI training program includes 10, 2-hour learning sessions as well as weekly individualized supervision/feedback to improve MI skills. Advanced MI training cohorts typically include 4-12 learners from multidisciplinary teams. The advanced MI training program is designed to facilitate learners' growth to expert MI proficiency. Dr. Faith has previously published findings to demonstrate strong acceptability and effectiveness of the basic and advanced MI training curricula. As part of lab involvement, lab members may also have opportunities to observe tumor boards and/or attend medical rounds.

Leadership Opportunities
We hope to train lab members who will ultimately go on to become our colleagues. An important part of this journey includes building leadership and mentorship skills. PEDS Lab members have opportunities to apply for lab leadership positions. These positions typically include overall lab manager roles as well as roles overseeing specific projects. Drs. Faith and Schimmel-Bristow provide umbrella supervision for lab leaders to help leaders grow in their professional mentorship skills. The lab leadership team meets weekly to discuss lab training needs, lab systems needs, and overall study updates. Lab managers also complete a structured reading curriculum to help broaden and deepen their understanding and appreciation for leadership styles, application of evidence-based leadership behaviors, and leadership ethics.