Abstract
Mentoring has long been believed to be an effective means of developing students' clinical, research, and teaching skills to become competent professionals. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) has developed two online mentoring programs, Student to Empowered Professional (S.T.E.P. 1:1) and Mentoring Academic Research Careers (MARC), to aid in the development of students. This paper provides a review of the literature on mentoring and compares and contrasts mentoring/mentors with clinical supervision/preceptors. Characteristics of effective mentors and mentees are offered. Additionally, the benefits of clinical mentoring such as, teambuilding in the workplace, retention of new staff, leadership development, and improved job satisfaction are discussed.