How to be a personal / pastoral tutor

Some Universities offer medical students personal/pastoral tutors. Personal / pastoral tutors offer general advice about research and career opportunities. If you have the time, this is a great way to engage with medical students and demonstrates an important skillset (pastoral, listening, coaching). It also offers you a chance to promote pathology.

Things to consider

• Being a personal / pastoral tutor can be quite a time intensive role. Find out what would be expected of you before committing to it.
• Decide when, how often and where you will meet students – you may need to book a room.
• Find out the University rules regarding documenting the meetings – what is required?
• Ensure students are aware of any ground rules – what is appropriate or not to discuss, to what extent is the material discussed confidential and in what instances might you be duty bound to break confidentiality?
• Whilst the majority of meetings will discuss general research and career advice, some students may wish to discuss more complex issues. Make sure you’re familiar with the University procedure about what to do in this instance in order to signpost a student to the necessary sources of support.

Don’t forget to include being a personal/pastoral tutor on your CV.