Q and A session with a past mentor – Rajshree Das

[ichordswebadmin]

Have any questions about the mentorship program as a mentee or mentor? Ask our past mentor, Rajshree Das!

Rajshree Das is the Senior Director of the NTD Programs at Project Concern International India. She has experience in program planning, development and implementation as well as in maternal, adolescent and child health.

Rajshree Das has served as a mentor twice during the 2023 and 2024 mentorship program.

*iCHORDS will answer any general questions related to the program.

[Rajshree]

Dear Colleagues and friends,
My name is rajshree and I have been working on NTDs in India. My experience flows from community engagement and social mobilization.
I would like to share about my experience with the mentorship program. This is a wonderful opportunity for cross learning at a global level. For past two cycles, I served as mentor and worked with two amazing young professionals from Ghana and Kenya. This program provided scope to virtually listen to the program and mentor the professionals to support in achieving their aspirations.

I will be happy to respond to your queries with regards to time investment and benefits from the program.

[Sadowney]

How did your mentorship experience this past year differ from the one you participated in 2023?

[Rajshree]

The expectation from the mentees differs basis their roles and aspirations. This is one unique feature of this program, you get to modulate the expectations between the mentee and mentor. I enjoyed both years as the context and expectations were diverse.

[Vikas Dwivedi]

Dear Ma’am,
I wanna ask 2 questions here related to this Mentorship Program.
1- Which leadership skills were the most difficult for you to develop?
2- Where or what do you turn to for continuous learning or skill development?

Thanks

[sorsa1982]

Dear Rajshree,
Thank you for sharing your experiences on the Mentoship program over the last years. I have the following questions for you.
1. What do you recommend for mentees to be more effective?
2. What are the opportunities for Mentees and mentors to network with professionals working in NTDs, social and behaviour change, and other public health areas?

[Rajshree]

1. Which leadership skills were the most difficult for you to develop?- It’s a continuous process but the mentorship program provides an opportunity to reflect together (mentor and mentee) to identify the areas which could be brushed up during the program duration.
2- Where or what do you turn to for continuous learning or skill development? It’s about updating knowledge and consistently refining the skills to develop self as a competent professional for NTDs. Mentorship program is one a great initiative to initiate the journey of becoming competent professional.

[Rajshree]

1. What do you recommend for mentees to be more effective? Being transparent and specific about the expectations and a self-discipline for conversations are the two important components. There has been experience wherein the time zones are different, existing work pressure and priorities but going beyond and taking out time for this professional growth would make the association effective for both the mentor and mentees.
2. What are the opportunities for Mentees and mentors to network with professionals working in NTDs, social and behaviour change, and other public health areas? Discussion about the opportunities to share at the global platforms, identify such opportunities, sharing about their own experience on SBC, refining the concepts, updating the knowledge are a few opportunities which I could list here.

[SouOla]

Hello Rajshree, Thank you so much for your time and commitment!
My name is Souad and I recently applied for the iCHORDS 2025–2026 mentorship program. I hold a Master’s degree in Medical and Molecular Microbiology and am currently preparing a PhD proposal on female genital schistosomiasis, a neglected disease that remains highly prevalent in certain regions of Benin. My goal is to integrate my expertise in infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance with a broader approach to NTDs, supported by the guidance of an experienced mentor.
I deeply admire dedicated mentors like you, and I would be truly grateful for your insights. Please allow me to ask a few questions — I apologize if they seem a bit many!
1. What do you expect from a good mentee, whether explicitly or implicitly?
2. What were your personal expectations for the mentees you supported?
3. How do you assess the strengths and weaknesses of a mentee’s project?
4. What advice would you give for building a solid and trusting mentoring relationship?
5. How do you tailor your support to a mentee’s local or institutional context?
6. In your view, what makes a mentorship successful?
7. My goal is to bridge infectious disease research and NTDs. What advice would you offer to make the most of this kind of mentorship?
8. My research topic is still underexplored in my country. How can I use the mentorship to advance such a specific project?

[Rajshree]

Hey Souad, thanks for your kind words, I appreciate your willingness to ask questions. Best wishes for the application for this program. I am happy to respond to your questions:

1. What do you expect from a good mentee, whether explicitly or implicitly? the key objective is LEARNING rather CROSS LEARNING, aspiration to learn would make a mentee “different” from others
2. What were your personal expectations for the mentees you supported?- Sincere efforts to connect and dialogue
3. How do you assess the strengths and weaknesses of a mentee’s project? it’s done by ICHORD team
4. What advice would you give for building a solid and trusting mentoring relationship? Self-discipline and professional attitude
5. How do you tailor your support to a mentee’s local or institutional context? by listening the context, and navigating with the experience and literature
6. In your view, what makes a mentorship successful? the vision and belief of mutual benefit
7. My goal is to bridge infectious disease research and NTDs. What advice would you offer to make the most of this kind of mentorship? take up a topic and deal with it thru the mentorship duration and bring it to a logical end in the form of product- a proposal, operational research, paper, abstract etc
8. My research topic is still underexplored in my country. How can I use the mentorship to advance such a specific project? hope you have provided your expectations in the proposal.

once again thanks for your time and amazing questions. best regards.

[Author]

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