Volunteer to Mentor Provisional Academy Members

To help newer information professionals with their careers, the Academy of Health Information Professionals matches each Provisional Member with an academy mentor. The mentor provides expertise in selecting continuing education opportunities and professional activities. 

Mentoring a Provisional Member is a rewarding way to contribute to the information field by fostering newer professionals. Take time to review this page to determine if being an academy mentor is right for you.

Mentor Requirements

Academy mentors must be:

• enthusiastic members of the Academy at Member level or above
• MLA members
• willing to serve as a mentor for up to 5 years
• able to fulfill the responsibilities listed below

Sign Up Online to Become a Mentor!

If you meet the above requirements, sign up to express your interest in serving as a provisional mentor by updating your MLA individual profile:

• Visit www.mlanet.org and log in with your member information
• Go to "My MLANET," then select "My Contact and Expertise Information" to review or update your mentor information.

Mentor Agreement

Complete the mentor agreement to receive academy points (one point per mentee, and up to five points per five-year academy membership period).

Mentor Responsibilities

1. Review portfolio immediately upon receipt.
    
2. Examine the provisional member’s education and experience background and the goals established (Form SELF-ASSESSMENT). Identify areas in which sponsored instruction may be appropriate. Resources are listed below:
   • MLA E-Courses
   • Regional Medical Libraries
   • National Library of Medicine
      
3. Identify areas in which professional activities may be appropriate. Five points of professional individual accomplishments will be required for the Provisional Level of the academy. Examples are listed below:
   • MLA national committees, caucuses and domain hubs
   • MLA chapter committees
   • National, international, and chapters other than MLA
   • Regional or state organizations
   • Conference participation
   • Publishing
      
4. Remember that
   
   • Provisional members are required to earn 5 points of professional accomplishments and 8 CE credits each year following the first year of academy membership. The credits should fall within the dates listed on the current Provisional certificate and in the member's MLANET profile.
   • A Provisional member can take MLA CE courses and other approved sponsored instruction, 
   • Provisional members may take a course at a community college/university. They may also take non-MLA-approved courses, but must use Form IPR to document the activity.
      
5. Contact the provisional member within two weeks of receiving the portfolio via email from MLA headquarters.
   • Discuss the requirements for renewal at the provisional level:
     • completion of 8 hours of continuing education per 12-month period
     • five points of professional activity
     • contact with the mentor at least annually (in person, by phone, or by email)
        
6. Remind mentee that once five years of full-time professional work experience and activity points have been earned, the member must upgrade to member or senior level.
   • Encourage regular review of academy membership levels.
   • Encourage regular review of the current Point Index so the member is aware of the types of activities that are awarded points and the documentation required.
   • Encourage good practices to prepare for the upgrade. The member should:
     • save documentation for all continuing education and professional accomplishments submitted in support of each renewal as this may be used when applying at higher level. MEDLIB-ED transcripts may be submitted instead of indivdual certificates
     • Prepare to pay the full academy membership fee with upgrade.
     • Be sure to submit their higher level application as a new application, not as a renewal, as higher level applications are treated as new applications.
     • Submit proof of completion of the free Competencies Self-Assessment at the end of their Provisional membership. This is worth 1 AHIP point.
       
       
7. Annually sign the provisional member's renewal form (Provisional-Renew).
   • Sign the form and forward it to the provisional member within three working days.
   • If you have not been in contact with the provisional member during the year, please make contact as soon as possible.

Provisional Member's Responsibilities

• Annual contact with mentor
• Seek out continuing education opportunities that fulfill the annual eight-hour CE requirement
• Seek out individual accomplishment activities that fulfill the annual five points of professional activity and to prepare for applying at the member or senior member level.

Mentor Rewards

In addition to the satisfaction of mentoring a new professional, academy mentors receive one academy point per year per mentee. These points count toward the five-point MLA activity requirement for the distinguished membership level.