Corporate Mentoring in Memphis Promotes Medical Careers

The Memphis Grizzles Charitable Foundation has been working with Smith & Nephew, the global company that creates products for orthopedic reconstruction and trauma, endoscopy and advanced wound management, to launch a youth mentoring program for students wanting a career in medical technology and business.

A key component to the Smith & Nephew launch has been their beta testing this past summer of a new product developed by MENTOR and Viacom, the world’s leading entertainment content company, which provides step-by-step guidance for corporations on how to start a quality mentoring program for young people.

Smith & Nephew’s state-of-the-art initiative is called the Smith & Nephew Scholars Program, which pairs middle- and high-school students with mentors from the Memphis-based Orthopaedic Reconstruction and Trauma division for five years, until the students head to college.

Mentees come from three local public charter schools: the Memphis Academy of Science and Engineering, the Memphis Academy of Health Sciences and the Knowledge Is Power Program. The adult/youth mentoring pairs meet several times each month, and when the students reach their junior and senior years, they can have paid summer internships with the company. Smith & Nephew also will pay for their SAT and ACT preparation classes, mentor them through the college application process and maintain a relationship into their higher education years.

“What makes this program unique is that once these students are in the program, unless they have significant deficiencies in meeting our expectations, they will stay in the program from grade 8 until they enter into college,” said Mark Stephens, senior vice president of human resources for Smith & Nephew, the executive in charge of the Scholars Program. “Smith & Nephew is a large part of the community here, and we’re always trying to do things to help improve the lives of those around us.”

Jenny Koltnow, executive director of the Memphis Grizzlies Charitable Foundation and leader of the Grizzlies TEAM UP Youth Mentoring initiative, said, “We believe there is an immense opportunity here for young people who are interested in an exciting career. This program provides a caring adult to help bolster their academic achievement, but it also opens doors for them to receive training, real-life work experiences and a leg up in getting into and succeeding in college.”

“We also hope that this kind of mentoring will encourage students to come back to Memphis after they graduate to live and work here,” noted Koltnow.

Dr. Larry Wright, MENTOR’s president and CEO, said the Viacom guide that Smith & Nephew used in their beta testing will be launched publically at next January’s National Mentoring Summit in Washington, D.C. “This product will allow corporations across America to establish new mentoring programs or enhance existing mentoring efforts to a level of quality that will continue to make a real difference in the lives of our young people,” he said.

For more information on the Memphis Grizzlies Charitable Foundation/Memphis Mentoring Partnership, visit www.teamupmemphis.org.

Article credit: mentoring.org(http://www.mentoring.org/news_and_research/news_releases/corporate_mentoring_in_memphis_promotes_medical_careers)