Dozens of Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point (NHCCP) Sailors learned about the opportunities available to them in Navy Medicine while attending a speed mentoring session at the clinic at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., June 10.

The program is modeled after speed dating, where single adults can meet a large number of people in a short period of time.

Sailors spent 3 minutes with senior enlisted Sailors and prior enlisted Medical Service and Nurse Corps officers before moving on to the next senior mentor. But unlike speed dating, these Sailors were discussing career fields, commissioning programs, and personal and professional goals.

The Sailors had 20 senior mentors from various medical fields to advise them.

Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Ebonee Jarrell, surgical services leading petty officer and enlisted mentorship program manager, designed the mentorship opportunity.

"We have a very robust mentorship program in place here at NHCCP," Jarrell said. "Speed mentoring is just another opportunity to build relationships between more senior personnel and junior Sailors. We also have quite a few "Mustangs" who can offer their personal advice on what it takes to move up the ranks to becoming a chief or officer."

Several questions served as ice breakers or prompts to get the conversations started. Sailors could ask the mentors about duty stations, career fields or steps to becoming a chief or officer. In turn, mentors asked Sailors about their short- and long-term goals, career interests and offered advice about their own specialties.

"Mentoring is so important, no matter where you are in your career," Jarrell said. "Once I made E-6, I was lucky to get Chief Thomas Ruffner as my mentor. He has helped guide me and worked with me as I prepare for advancement to chief; from studying for exams to writing evaluations and awards, he has kept me focused on being a leader and taking care of my Sailors."

Recently frocked Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Bryan Escobar is currently working with patients as part of NHCCP's Medical Home Port Blue Team. Not only did he have specific questions for his mentors, he also learned about the power of networking.

"I had several questions about the Navy in general," Escobar said. "But, I also wanted to know about attending aerospace physiology technician (APT) "C" school. When I told one of the mentors about my goal, he told me that our own command master chief was an APT. And, since the CMC was one of the mentors, I was able to sit down with him and learn first-hand about the APT career field."

Jarrell originally set the rotation for Sailors to meet with each mentor for 3 minutes before moving on to the next mentor. But after the first few rotations it became obvious the junior Sailors were taking this opportunity to soak up all they could from their senior mentors, causing Jarrell to conclude, "I believe I need to extend the time to 4 or 5 minutes each."

According to NHCCP Command Master Chief Nate Whiddon, "We spend a lot of time working with all our Sailors, officers and enlisted, preparing them for the next step in their careers. These two hours of speed mentoring were a great addition to our Career Development Boards as well as our mentoring program. Our Sailors learned a lot about the Navy and their careers, and it was a great opportunity for us as senior leaders to learn more about them."

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