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Mentor Onboarding Guide

Quick Summary: Welcome to the DPC Mentor Platform community. This guide walks you through becoming a mentor, understanding your role, setting up your profile, and navigating mentorship relationships with medical students, residents, and physicians transitioning to DPC.

Table of Contents

Welcome

Welcome to the DPC Mentor Platform, where experienced Direct Primary Care physicians share their knowledge and expertise with the next generation of DPC physicians.

As a mentor, you play a crucial role in shaping the future of Direct Primary Care by guiding:

  • Medical students exploring DPC as a career path
  • Resident physicians considering independent practice
  • Physicians transitioning from traditional employed models to DPC

Your experience is invaluable. The DPC community grows through the willingness of established physicians like you to share hard-won lessons with those following in your footsteps.

What is the DPC Mentor Platform?

The DPC Mentor Platform is a volunteer-driven connection service that facilitates mentorship relationships between established DPC physicians and learners interested in Direct Primary Care.

Note

The platform serves as a pairing service only. Once an initial connection is made, all subsequent arrangements are determined directly between mentor and mentee.

The Platform Provides: - Initial matching between mentors and mentees - Profile management - Credential verification - Basic platform support

The Platform Does NOT Provide: - Supervision of mentorship relationships - Malpractice coverage - Mediation of disputes - Management of schedules or logistics

Your Role as a Mentor

As a DPC mentor, you serve as an independent physician offering guidance based on your experience. All professional decisions remain under your control.

Important

You are not an employee, contractor, or agent of the DPC Mentor Platform. You participate as an independent volunteer physician sharing expertise with learners.

Your Responsibilities

  • Share your DPC experience and expertise honestly
  • Set clear expectations with mentees upfront
  • Maintain professional standards of conduct
  • Ensure appropriate malpractice coverage for clinical interactions
  • Communicate boundaries and availability clearly

What You Control

  • Which mentees you accept
  • Format and structure of mentorship
  • Schedule and availability
  • Duration and depth of the relationship
  • When to end a mentorship

Mentor Requirements

To maintain quality and safety within the DPC Mentor Platform community, all mentors must meet the following criteria:

Requirement Details
Active Medical License Current, unrestricted medical license in your state of practice
DPC Experience An established, independent Direct Primary Care practice. The application asks how many years you have practiced in the DPC model, and every application is reviewed by a person before activation
Clean Record No active state board investigations or disciplinary actions
NPI Verification Valid National Provider Identifier, verified through NPPES database
Professional Standards Adherence to the standard code of conduct expected of licensed physicians

Getting Started

Step 1: Profile Setup

Complete your mentor profile with the following information:

  • Practice details: practice name, specialty, years in the DPC model, and location (city, state, ZIP)
  • Bio: your DPC story, in your own words
  • Areas of expertise: a comma-separated list (for example: starting a practice, pricing, rural DPC)
  • Availability: one free-text field. Use it for everything a mentee needs to know before asking: whether you offer clinical rotations and for how long (two, four or six weeks, or your own terms), non-clinical formats, preferred contact methods, your time zone, typical response time, and any cancellation expectations. The profile has no separate fields for these.
  • Maximum mentees: how many active mentees you will take at once

Step 2: Verification Process

  1. Submit your NPI number during registration
  2. Platform verifies your credentials through the NPPES database
  3. Admin review confirms your DPC practice history
  4. Profile activation makes you visible to potential mentees

Step 3: Review Match Requests

Once activated, you will receive match requests from potential mentees. You may:

  • Accept requests that align with your availability and interests
  • Decline requests at your discretion, for any reason
  • Request more information before deciding

What to Expect

Clinical Rotations (Medical Students & Residents)

  • Duration is at your discretion (2 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks, or custom)
  • Structure — you determine rotation objectives and daily schedule
  • Academic coordination — mentees are responsible for working with their institution
  • Malpractice coverage — must be confirmed before rotations begin
  • Acceptance — you may accept or decline any mentee request

Non-Clinical Mentoring (All Mentee Types)

  • Format, frequency, and duration are mutually agreed upon with your mentee
  • Methods may include phone calls, video meetings, email exchanges, or in-person meetings
  • Boundaries — you set the availability and communication expectations

Malpractice & Insurance

Caution

The DPC Mentor Platform does not provide malpractice coverage for any party. Verify coverage arrangements in writing before any clinical interaction.

For Clinical Rotations

  • Confirm that the mentee's institution provides malpractice coverage
  • Request written documentation of coverage before the rotation begins
  • If the institution does not provide coverage, ensure alternative arrangements are in place
  • Verify your own malpractice policy covers supervising learners

For Mentees Without Institutional Coverage

  • The mentee must declare this upfront
  • You must confirm your own policy covers supervising learners
  • Consider whether to accept the mentorship based on your risk tolerance

Documentation

Before beginning any clinical rotation, document in writing:

  • Mentee's name and affiliation
  • Rotation dates and duration
  • Malpractice coverage source and policy details
  • Scope of clinical activities permitted
  • Any institutional requirements

Communication Guidelines

  • Respond promptly to initial match requests (within a few days is reasonable)
  • Communicate directly with your mentee for all scheduling and logistics
  • Contact platform support (support@dpcmentor.com) only for technical platform issues
  • The platform does not mediate interpersonal or scheduling disputes

Ending a Mentorship

You may end a mentorship relationship at any time, for any reason. Simply:

  1. Communicate directly with your mentee
  2. Update the availability text on your profile, or lower your maximum number of mentees
  3. No explanation to the platform is required

Tip

Ending a mentorship professionally helps preserve relationships. Even if the fit wasn't right, a brief, respectful conversation leaves the door open for future interactions.

Support

For technical platform issues only:

  • Email: support@dpcmentor.com
  • Expected response time: a few days. The platform is run by volunteers.

For all other matters — scheduling, logistics, interpersonal concerns, clinical questions — please communicate directly with your mentee.

Caution

The DPC Mentor Platform is a connection service only. We do not supervise, direct, or manage mentorship relationships. All clinical and professional decisions remain the sole responsibility of the participating physicians and learners. Mentors are not employees, contractors, or agents of the DPC Mentor Platform.

Thank you for volunteering your time and expertise to grow the DPC community.