Why the traditional mentoring system is broken

1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,860 Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast, where academic clinicians learn the skills 2 00:00:05,860 --> 00:00:11,260 to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor. 3 00:00:11,260 --> 00:00:17,340 As clinicians, we spend a decade or more as trainees learning to take care of patients. 4 00:00:17,340 --> 00:00:22,380 When we finally start our careers, we want to build research programs, but then we find 5 00:00:22,380 --> 00:00:27,780 that our years of clinical training did not adequately prepare us to lead our research 6 00:00:27,780 --> 00:00:29,200 program. 7 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:35,480 Through no fault of our own, we struggle to find mentors, and when we can't, we quit. 8 00:00:35,480 --> 00:00:40,580 However, clinicians hold the keys to the greatest research breakthroughs. 9 00:00:40,580 --> 00:00:46,200 For this reason, the Clinician Researcher podcast exists to give academic clinicians 10 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:51,800 the tools to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor. 11 00:00:51,800 --> 00:01:01,100 Now introducing your host, Toyosi Onwuemene. 12 00:01:01,100 --> 00:01:04,240 Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast. 13 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:08,200 I'm your host, Toyosi Onwuemene, and it is such a pleasure to be here talking with you 14 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:09,200 today. 15 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:10,200 Thank you for listening. 16 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:15,600 Today, I'm going to talk about why the traditional mentoring system is broken and what you can 17 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:17,560 do about it. 18 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:20,920 And I really feel like it's important to talk about this topic because it's something I 19 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:25,600 wish I had understood when I first started in my faculty career. 20 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:28,120 I thought so much depended on my mentors. 21 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:30,120 I needed them to help me. 22 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:34,120 I didn't feel like they were really rising up to the challenge and just felt like they 23 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:35,120 failed me. 24 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:41,440 I was like the child who felt like their parents just didn't do enough for them. 25 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:45,440 And it's kind of like, you know, when for those of you who have good relationships with 26 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:49,760 your parents, you recognize that, you know, when you're younger, you don't really appreciate 27 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:54,720 them, but as you get older and certainly as you start to have children yourself, you have 28 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:56,880 the sense of like, wow, they did so much for me. 29 00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:00,960 And you begin to appreciate your parents in a way that you didn't before. 30 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:04,880 And it's insight and perspective that you wish you had had as children, you know, in 31 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:06,840 honoring them more. 32 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:11,600 So anyway, so this is the perspective I'm coming with as someone who, when I was younger 33 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:16,320 and a little bit petty, really blamed my mentors for a lot and really felt like they fell short 34 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:17,320 of their responsibility. 35 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:22,440 And now as someone who's a mentor myself, I recognize all the challenges and now I just 36 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:23,440 want to share them. 37 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:28,000 And I want to share them, not necessarily to give you a better attitude towards your 38 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:32,600 mentors for those of you who've had challenging mentoring relationships, but just to help 39 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:40,620 you understand the background of what is broken and how it helps you adjust your expectations. 40 00:02:40,620 --> 00:02:46,000 And it's helpful because when you recognize what the challenges are, it allows you to 41 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:49,480 say, well, what can I expect from this person? 42 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:52,240 And it allows you to just manage your expectations. 43 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:53,800 So that's the picture. 44 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:57,320 That's the perspective that I want to share. 45 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:02,560 And so helping you understand why the traditional mentoring systems are broken and what you 46 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:03,840 can do about it. 47 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:04,840 Okay. 48 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:09,000 So the first thing I want to share with you is that structurally clinicians do not get 49 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:10,000 research training. 50 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:11,000 Okay. 51 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:12,800 If you're MD-PhD, you have a different trajectory. 52 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:16,760 I'm going to talk about PhDs and so maybe your story aligns more with that path. 53 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:19,200 What I find is that MD-PhDs are kind of in the middle of that. 54 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:25,240 So MD-PhDs, there's nothing against you, but I really do want to focus on MD-only trained 55 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:26,240 clinicians right now. 56 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:32,460 And I want to just point out MD-only trained clinicians that research is not part of your 57 00:03:32,460 --> 00:03:33,600 training. 58 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:37,800 It's not, and it's not supposed to be because you came to be an excellent clinician when 59 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:39,400 you started out in medical school. 60 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:43,880 Yes, you are out to save the world, to help people, but your medical school training is 61 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:45,560 about clinical training. 62 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:51,560 So most medical schools are certified and most residency programs are certified. 63 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:55,320 Most fellowship programs are certified by the ACGME. 64 00:03:55,320 --> 00:04:00,600 And I think undergraduate medical programs are certified by the LCME and the graduate 65 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:05,120 medical education programs, the residencies and fellowships are certified by the ACGME. 66 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:10,260 So there are competencies that you need to meet for each to be certified, for each program 67 00:04:10,260 --> 00:04:11,380 to be certified. 68 00:04:11,380 --> 00:04:14,480 So the competencies are really around clinical care. 69 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:15,480 Okay, this is really important. 70 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:20,300 There's a really important foundation to lay is that your training was always about medical 71 00:04:20,300 --> 00:04:22,440 care in the first place. 72 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:24,160 Research was not part of your training. 73 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:27,340 Now as part of your training, you understand research, right? 74 00:04:27,340 --> 00:04:32,280 Because a lot of the basis for biomedical research is patients, is healthcare. 75 00:04:32,280 --> 00:04:36,600 Every advancement that we're making in biomedical research is about helping the patient, is 76 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:40,140 about helping the patient be better, is about helping improve outcomes. 77 00:04:40,140 --> 00:04:44,880 And although sometimes it's challenging for us to trace back these efforts all the way 78 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:54,540 to, all the way to like the Drosophila for those who are working on fruit fly experiments, 79 00:04:54,540 --> 00:04:55,920 it's hard for us to make those connections. 80 00:04:55,920 --> 00:05:02,040 But at the end of the day, the whole goal is to move us towards better care for, for 81 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:03,040 patients, right? 82 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:05,520 So biomedical research, I'm focused on biomedical research. 83 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:09,680 Because there's other research that does not necessarily improve patient outcomes, but 84 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:14,640 biomedical research, we understand as clinicians because, hey, we're at the forefront of patient 85 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:15,640 care. 86 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:20,480 And yes, we understand that a new drug that really enhances glycemic control in patients 87 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:22,320 with diabetes is important. 88 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:27,040 Okay, clinicians, I want you to understand that your clinician education was really about 89 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:28,040 clinical care. 90 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:33,320 Okay, you understand research because to some extent you understand the basis for research, 91 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:39,200 but research training is a very, very defined skill set that usually is experienced by our 92 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:40,920 colleagues, the PhD researchers. 93 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:42,400 Okay, I'm going to pause now. 94 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:45,320 I'm going to talk to you about PhD training. 95 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:48,880 PhD training is really focused on research. 96 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:51,040 And this is an important thing to understand. 97 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:52,040 I know it's intuitive. 98 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:56,240 It's like, oh yeah, PhDs go get research training. 99 00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:57,240 Got it. 100 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:00,920 So I want you to understand that they come to research, they come to life with a totally 101 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:02,440 different perspective. 102 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:09,160 For example, when I was a fellow looking for a lab or a research mentor, I met a couple 103 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:13,200 of PhD researchers and they would say, great, how much time do you have for research? 104 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:16,920 How much time will we expect for you to come and be in the lab and do these experiments? 105 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:18,920 And I would say, well, I have clinic on Mondays. 106 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:19,920 That's a half day. 107 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:20,920 And then on Tuesday, I have a half day in the afternoon. 108 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:25,440 And then on Friday, by the time I was getting to Friday, they were like, I'm not sure I'm 109 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:27,480 going to be available to mentor you. 110 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:32,640 And the reason that they couldn't understand my three half days of clinic during fellowship 111 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:36,280 was that it really is a full-time endeavor. 112 00:06:36,280 --> 00:06:40,840 And anybody who doesn't have a full-time commitment to a research endeavor is not really going 113 00:06:40,840 --> 00:06:42,880 to be able to move very much forward. 114 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:45,540 But as clinicians, we're clinicians, we take care of patients. 115 00:06:45,540 --> 00:06:47,040 Research is not our full-time job. 116 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:51,440 So anyway, so letting you know that researchers come to research from a different perspective. 117 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:52,440 Okay. 118 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:55,400 Let's talk about PhD training. 119 00:06:55,400 --> 00:07:00,120 You start out maybe getting a little bit of research training in your pre-doctoral years. 120 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:03,840 You say, hey, I think I want to be a PhD researcher. 121 00:07:03,840 --> 00:07:08,800 And in your undergraduate education, perhaps if you had a good guidance counselor, they 122 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:10,400 would say, are you sure you want to do research? 123 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:15,660 Why don't you do a little bit of a pre-doctoral type experience, get a little bit of research 124 00:07:15,660 --> 00:07:18,320 under your belt and see if this is actually what you want to do. 125 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:22,840 So in the course of that, similar to what medical students do, they do maybe a year, 126 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:23,840 no more than two. 127 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:26,720 And they're like, you know what, I really want to do this research program. 128 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:31,520 And so they apply and they go into their PhD program. 129 00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:32,520 Okay. 130 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:36,600 They go into their PhD program and then they start out, first of all, doing qualifiers. 131 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:40,860 So they're doing the basic understanding of biochemical things, depending on what they're 132 00:07:40,860 --> 00:07:43,240 going into for their PhD. 133 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:47,960 And then they take their qualifiers and their qualifying exams are to say, wow, you have 134 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:52,720 attained a sufficient level of expertise or knowledge to actually do your research. 135 00:07:52,720 --> 00:07:57,520 And so the qualifiers, that whole experience probably can get them to one to two years 136 00:07:57,520 --> 00:07:59,240 with their research program potentially. 137 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:03,240 But anyway, in the process though, they're not just like learning things. 138 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:06,400 They're actually actively participating in research. 139 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:09,840 And in this way, they're not really like leading anything yet, but they're going from lab to 140 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:15,000 lab, you know, having an experience of like, oh, okay, this might be a lot, I want to participate 141 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:16,000 in. 142 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:17,000 Great. 143 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:18,000 Okay. 144 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:20,180 And so they're doing a little bit of research and then they choose their lab. 145 00:08:20,180 --> 00:08:24,360 They say, this is a lab in which I'm going to pursue research or their program of study 146 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:26,520 for those of them who are not in the lab. 147 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:29,360 This is the program of study in which I'm going to do research. 148 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:30,780 They choose that lab. 149 00:08:30,780 --> 00:08:35,180 And then for about four to six years, they're focused on just research training. 150 00:08:35,180 --> 00:08:39,300 They start out on the project of maybe a senior graduate student in the lab. 151 00:08:39,300 --> 00:08:41,120 They help them finish their project. 152 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:43,080 So in that way, they're not necessarily leading research. 153 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:46,400 I mean, they're leading their own project, but what they're not doing is leading the 154 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:47,680 big picture, right? 155 00:08:47,680 --> 00:08:52,880 They start off kind of like in a participatory role and then they start to get graduated 156 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:59,160 responsibility and over time, over the four to six years in the research training program, 157 00:08:59,160 --> 00:09:01,040 they become more senior. 158 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:04,680 They become directors of the research program, right? 159 00:09:04,680 --> 00:09:09,900 They become the senior graduate student and they have other graduate students in the lab 160 00:09:09,900 --> 00:09:11,960 helping them move their projects forward. 161 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:16,040 Maybe they have summer students that they also supervise, but over the four to six years 162 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:22,240 of their training in the lab, they are getting graduated responsibility in leading research. 163 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:23,240 Okay. 164 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:24,240 They get their PhD, whoop-de-doo. 165 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:26,240 They get a certificate. 166 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:27,240 Congratulations. 167 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:28,240 Here's your diploma. 168 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:29,240 You did great. 169 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:31,600 You don't go get a job. 170 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:32,880 You first of all do a postdoc. 171 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:35,680 If you're going to stay in academia, you're going to stay in research, you're going to 172 00:09:35,680 --> 00:09:36,680 get a postdoc. 173 00:09:36,680 --> 00:09:38,400 So they go get a postdoc. 174 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:41,520 Any reasonable postdoc experience is like a two to three year experience. 175 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:42,520 Okay. 176 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:43,520 You do two to three years. 177 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:44,520 You get a postdoc. 178 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:48,560 And as a postdoc, you're not coming to the lab to figure out your life. 179 00:09:48,560 --> 00:09:54,080 You're coming to a lab to learn a particular methodology so you can apply it to your research. 180 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:56,120 So you come in as a postdoc. 181 00:09:56,120 --> 00:09:57,520 You come in as a leader. 182 00:09:57,520 --> 00:10:00,360 You come in as a leader of the senior graduate students, right? 183 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:03,160 You drive your own program study. 184 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:08,520 You're independent to some extent within the context of your mentor, your research mentors 185 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:09,520 program. 186 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:10,520 Okay. 187 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:11,520 That's the first postdoc. 188 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:12,800 Most people actually do a second postdoc. 189 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:17,080 So your first postdoc two to three years, second postdoc, maybe two to three years. 190 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:23,160 And at the end of all of this postdocing, you're like, I am now ready for an early career 191 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:24,160 faculty appointment. 192 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:25,160 Okay. 193 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:31,640 Now, when we add up all those years, zero to two years in the predoctoral phase, four 194 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:36,400 to six years in the research program for the PhD phase, two to three years in the first 195 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:42,560 postdoc, two to three years in the second postdoc, we come to eight to 12 years of dedicated 196 00:10:42,560 --> 00:10:43,560 research training. 197 00:10:43,560 --> 00:10:45,880 I need to pause and say that number for you again. 198 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:50,440 Eight to 12 years of dedicated research training as a PhD. 199 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:52,280 You need to remember that number. 200 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:54,840 And it's not just about, hey, I'm just helping out. 201 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:57,720 It's about graduated research leadership. 202 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:03,200 It's about graduated understanding of leading your own program of study, of understanding 203 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:09,240 how to have a hypothesis, how to test a hypothesis, how to do the experiments, how to lead the 204 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:11,700 experiments, how to plan what experiment is next. 205 00:11:11,700 --> 00:11:13,720 It's focused research training. 206 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:14,720 Okay. 207 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:16,800 Let's move to our MD colleagues, right? 208 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:21,880 So as MDs, you're a medical student, but before you can get into med school, you do need to 209 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:23,240 do a little bit of research. 210 00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:25,680 So maybe you do a summer program of study. 211 00:11:25,680 --> 00:11:27,520 You pack a couple of summers in there. 212 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:28,520 Great. 213 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:31,280 You might get a year of research in that regard. 214 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:35,720 And you know, a summer here, a summer there, six weeks here, six, eight weeks there, maybe 215 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:40,880 by the end of your undergraduate degree, you've done maybe a year, a year of research. 216 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:44,280 And then for some people, not even quite a year, but maybe you were gung ho and you've 217 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:48,600 been working in the lab of a research mentor part-time for like your whole four year period 218 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:49,600 because you're like, oh, I know. 219 00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:52,220 I know research is necessary to get into med school. 220 00:11:52,220 --> 00:11:53,220 Maybe you did two years. 221 00:11:53,220 --> 00:11:54,220 Good for you. 222 00:11:54,220 --> 00:11:56,920 So in your pre-doctoral phase, you did about zero to two years. 223 00:11:56,920 --> 00:11:57,920 Okay. 224 00:11:57,920 --> 00:11:58,920 Then you went into medical school. 225 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:03,480 Now, many of us are still seeking opportunities to lead research in medical school, but most 226 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:04,920 of us don't have that. 227 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:09,280 But if you do, maybe you go to a medical school where they actually will dedicate a whole 228 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:11,720 year for doing research and you do that. 229 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:12,720 Okay, great. 230 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:13,720 You have a whole year. 231 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:14,720 You've done research. 232 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:15,720 Good for you. 233 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:16,720 You go into your residency program. 234 00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:19,540 How many residency programs have elective time for research? 235 00:12:19,540 --> 00:12:20,540 Very few. 236 00:12:20,540 --> 00:12:23,840 But if they do have research electives, it's like four weeks, right? 237 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:26,320 Each elective period is about four to six weeks. 238 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:29,640 So maximum time you have in one year is four to six period. 239 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:31,720 It's four to six weeks, right? 240 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:36,520 It's a short period of time, but maybe you are in a special program where there's like 241 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:40,280 an accelerated research experience. 242 00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:41,280 Maybe you get a year. 243 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:42,920 Oh, maybe even two years. 244 00:12:42,920 --> 00:12:43,920 Okay. 245 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:45,560 Then you go into your fellowship. 246 00:12:45,560 --> 00:12:51,320 An ACGME accredited fellowships for three years have 18 months worth of clinical time. 247 00:12:51,320 --> 00:12:55,000 If it's a 24 month program, it's 12 months of research time. 248 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:59,160 So 18 months of research time or 12 months of research time. 249 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:00,160 Okay. 250 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:04,160 Then at the end of your fellowship, you're ready to apply for a faculty job. 251 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:05,160 Great. 252 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:09,400 Now, when we look at you, because you're applying for an academic faculty job in an academic 253 00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:14,040 medical center, when we compare you to the PhD researcher who's also looking for their 254 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:19,160 entry level academic job at the academic medical center, they've racked up eight to 12 years 255 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:24,800 of research training and you've racked up three to five years at the most. 256 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:25,840 And I'm being really generous. 257 00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:27,360 It's really about three. 258 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:29,480 It's three years of research training, right? 259 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:34,000 The 18 months you had in your fellowship, maybe you had a year in medical school. 260 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:36,100 You didn't get up to a year in your residency. 261 00:13:36,100 --> 00:13:39,640 Maybe you did a little bit before you started medical school. 262 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:43,760 It's really three, no more than 3.5 years. 263 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:46,920 And that whole time, it's not like you are leading anybody to do anything. 264 00:13:46,920 --> 00:13:50,160 You're just helping out or you're participating. 265 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:54,240 You are rarely the person who's driving a program of study, who's planning what experiments 266 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:57,500 happen next, who's leading another person in a research project. 267 00:13:57,500 --> 00:13:58,680 Very rarely. 268 00:13:58,680 --> 00:14:03,360 And so compared to a PhD who has eight to 12 years of training, and then they're like, 269 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:05,640 oh, I need a career development award. 270 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:07,960 You have three years at most. 271 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:10,640 And you also are like, great, I need a career development award. 272 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:11,640 Okay. 273 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:17,040 So you now need to understand that you have a gap when you compare yourself to a PhD researcher 274 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:22,640 of about 10 years in terms of how much training you have had relative to a PhD researcher. 275 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:27,280 There's a 10 year gap of not having research training. 276 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:28,280 Okay. 277 00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:29,520 And what does that research training entail? 278 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:35,920 It entails you being able to write grants to know how to formulate a hypothesis, how 279 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:41,440 to test a hypothesis, how to evaluate what experiments need to be done, how to plan the 280 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:44,520 experiments, how to do the experiments, how to evaluate the results of the experiments, 281 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:49,200 how to interpret data, how to put them into a manuscript for publication, how to choose 282 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:51,000 a journal to submit for publication. 283 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:52,000 Okay. 284 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:56,840 I could go on and on, but there are so many skills that come with doing research. 285 00:14:56,840 --> 00:14:58,760 Here's the other piece of it. 286 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:02,400 Researchers have multiple mentors throughout, right? 287 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:05,440 PhD researchers have multiple mentors throughout. 288 00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:09,080 They're not just having the one mentor in their one lab. 289 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:13,120 Most of them have a thesis committee, but even before the thesis committee, they've 290 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:14,920 worked in a couple of other labs. 291 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:19,720 They have a couple of other faculty that they work with. 292 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:23,240 They probably go to career development training sessions. 293 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:28,440 So they've had a lot of people pour into them on their journey to becoming an early career 294 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:29,440 faculty member. 295 00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:34,680 And you, as a clinician, have had a lot of mentors pour into you too, but mostly in clinical 296 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:35,680 things, right? 297 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:39,200 And you've been so focused on clinical training, you haven't had that as well. 298 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:40,200 Okay. 299 00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:44,720 So you have so many things that you need to make up in this 10-year gap between you and 300 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:50,440 the PhD researcher who, by the way, you're applying for the same funding sources, right? 301 00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:54,040 How is it supposed to all fall on one person? 302 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:55,040 Okay. 303 00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:58,800 So do you already see that there's a little bit of structural challenge? 304 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:03,160 It's like, hmm, I'm missing about eight to 10 years of research training. 305 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:08,280 And now we're going to ask one person, who by the way, has a full-time job in their own 306 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:13,840 clinical program, in their own research program, we're going to ask this one person to transform 307 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:15,280 your experience. 308 00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:16,280 Wow. 309 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:21,600 That, number one, is the biggest structural challenge, that there is so much of a gap 310 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:26,960 in a clinician's research training experience that it is overwhelming to ask one person 311 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:33,760 to do it when for researchers, it took a whole educational system to get them that information, 312 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:35,500 to get them that training. 313 00:16:35,500 --> 00:16:42,480 So already you can see that the challenging task before a mentor is very daunting. 314 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:43,480 That's number one. 315 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:47,440 It is an overwhelmingly impossible task. 316 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:48,440 I'll tell you the truth. 317 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:54,200 It's an impossible task for one mentor to undertake the work that a whole system of 318 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:58,720 education undertakes to support research training. 319 00:16:58,720 --> 00:16:59,720 That's number one. 320 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:00,720 Okay. 321 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:01,720 That took a long time. 322 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:04,080 The rest of it will be shorter, I promise. 323 00:17:04,080 --> 00:17:05,080 Okay. 324 00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:08,760 So what I want to leave you with at the end of that is that clinicians actually have a 325 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:11,280 massive gap in their research training. 326 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:12,280 It's huge. 327 00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:13,280 It's a chasm. 328 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:14,280 It's huge. 329 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:15,280 It's gargantuan. 330 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:21,280 And to ask a mentor to bridge it is a fool's errand. 331 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:22,280 Okay. 332 00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:25,760 Let's stop there. 333 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:30,360 So you want to lead research because you're so awesome and you can, and you know that 334 00:17:30,360 --> 00:17:32,560 your work is going to change the lives of patients. 335 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:33,880 Good news to you for the work you do. 336 00:17:33,880 --> 00:17:35,560 But you've got a lot of needs. 337 00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:37,400 You've got a lot of career development needs. 338 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:39,740 Number one, you need to learn to do the research. 339 00:17:39,740 --> 00:17:42,120 You need the research methodology training. 340 00:17:42,120 --> 00:17:43,960 Number two, you need to learn to lead the research. 341 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:46,600 So hey, Newsflash and I are going to be doing all this work yourself. 342 00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:50,720 You've got other things to do, but you're going to develop and train people to be able 343 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:51,720 to lead research. 344 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:54,320 So you do need to be able to learn to lead a team. 345 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:58,760 You need to learn to do all the things associated with managing people. 346 00:17:58,760 --> 00:17:59,760 Okay. 347 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:02,400 You also need to do all the stuff regarding grant writing. 348 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:06,200 I know that gets a lot of press, but there's a lot beyond just grant writing. 349 00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:09,040 And now you're getting an understanding of all the things you need. 350 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:10,040 And then you know what? 351 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:12,920 You're a human being and maybe you have a significant other. 352 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:18,320 And you're navigating the challenges of a dual career relationship. 353 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:22,280 And especially if you're a two-physician household, wow, you're like, how do we do this and manage 354 00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:23,280 our children? 355 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:27,460 Or maybe you're an early parent and you have young, young children at home. 356 00:18:27,460 --> 00:18:31,640 You need a little bit of mentoring as far as how do you navigate that? 357 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:35,600 Or maybe you have an elderly parent that you're taking care of at home. 358 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:39,080 Those are some things that you might not want to talk to just everybody about. 359 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:41,840 And then sometimes you're starting to write publications and you're like, well, who's 360 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:46,600 the first person who can see my first ugly, really ugly draft without judging me, without 361 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:48,760 feeling as if it needs to be perfect? 362 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:51,600 Who is the person who can read my very early drafts? 363 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:54,360 Who's the person who needs to read my final draft? 364 00:18:54,360 --> 00:19:00,440 Who's the person who can help me brainstorm ideas for submitting for grant funding? 365 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:05,280 So there's a whole lot of that going on and a whole lot of need that you have as a faculty 366 00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:06,280 member. 367 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:07,280 Okay. 368 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:13,000 So we take the one faculty member who's your mentor and we say, mentor me. 369 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:21,760 So that one person is expected to help you in your career, help you navigate your institution, 370 00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:25,600 help you figure out what research grants to apply for, help you figure out what manuscripts 371 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:28,720 you should be writing, help you figure out how to move those manuscripts forward. 372 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:34,360 But journals, I mean, oh my goodness, the list of your needs is endless. 373 00:19:34,360 --> 00:19:40,040 Remember that mentor is probably a clinician scientist as well who has other challenges 374 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:42,200 and other priorities. 375 00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:46,920 And so the challenge is you have a need for mentoring on many levels. 376 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:48,440 You have a need for support on many levels. 377 00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:50,260 And then we talk about sponsorship. 378 00:19:50,260 --> 00:19:52,160 We talk about mentorship. 379 00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:56,920 You have a need for all of those and they cannot reside in one person. 380 00:19:56,920 --> 00:19:57,920 Okay. 381 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:00,760 You cannot reside in one person. 382 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:06,640 The third thing I need to tell you is that mentors are kind of like early, they're kind 383 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:08,680 of parents of little children. 384 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:09,680 Okay. 385 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:13,960 When you are a newbie clinician without the eight to 10 years of research training that 386 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:16,920 your PhD colleagues have, you need a lot. 387 00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:18,360 There's a lot you don't know. 388 00:20:18,360 --> 00:20:20,560 There's a lot you don't know that you don't know. 389 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:24,600 And so it really is like a parent who is a newborn, a newborn who's like, help me mentor, 390 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:25,600 help me. 391 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:26,600 I want to meet with you every week. 392 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:27,600 Help me mentor. 393 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:28,920 I also want to talk to you by email every day. 394 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:29,920 Help me mentor. 395 00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:30,920 I want to talk to you daily. 396 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:33,880 I know you're not that needy. 397 00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:36,920 But some of us were. 398 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:37,920 I was a needy mentee. 399 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:39,680 I really was, but I needed so much. 400 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:44,840 And the only person I knew was this amazing mentor who was so lovely and she would answer 401 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:45,840 all my questions. 402 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:49,800 And I would be in her office for hours just talking about how it was all not working. 403 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:55,900 We didn't even talk about your need for clinical mentoring as you're leading a clinical program. 404 00:20:55,900 --> 00:20:56,900 You need a lot. 405 00:20:56,900 --> 00:20:59,760 And your mentors are overwhelmed. 406 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:04,480 They're like the parent who doesn't sleep at night because their babies are always crying. 407 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:07,520 And that's like, you're just one mentee with so many needs. 408 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:08,520 And what if they have two? 409 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:09,520 I have three. 410 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:10,520 It's like having triplets. 411 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:12,440 Oh my gosh, it feels so overwhelming. 412 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:14,520 I don't even want to think about it. 413 00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:20,280 But it really is like, you know, if you think about the picture of a diapering parent, that's 414 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:26,200 the picture of a mentor of an early career faculty who has huge deficits in their research 415 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:27,200 training. 416 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:28,200 Okay. 417 00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:29,200 I'm getting to the good news. 418 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:33,400 I just need you to know that I start with the bad news because, you know, I need you 419 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:35,160 to understand how dire it is. 420 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:38,560 Then I also want you to understand that there is good news at the end. 421 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:40,480 I'm going to save the good news for last. 422 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:41,480 Okay. 423 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:42,480 All right. 424 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:46,800 One of the things I also want you to recognize is that faculty do not have the bandwidth. 425 00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:51,360 They I mean, they just and I don't really like the term bandwidth. 426 00:21:51,360 --> 00:21:52,920 It's a nice term that I hear people throw around. 427 00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:54,520 I don't have bandwidth to help you. 428 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:55,520 You know, it's not really about bandwidth. 429 00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:57,120 It's about your choices. 430 00:21:57,120 --> 00:21:59,720 You choose what you do and everything else just kind of falls to the side. 431 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:02,760 Of course, I don't have the bandwidth to help you shop for groceries. 432 00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:03,760 That's just not my priority. 433 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:06,000 I will never have the bandwidth for that. 434 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:10,600 But I might have the bandwidth to help you work on your on your grants because that's 435 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:11,600 a priority for me. 436 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:13,160 It's not really about bandwidth. 437 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:14,160 It's about priority. 438 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:18,960 And the reality is that mentors have a lot of other priorities besides you. 439 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:22,160 I remember thinking I was like, oh, my mentor doesn't think about me. 440 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:23,160 And that's correct. 441 00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:28,200 Your mentor is, first of all, thinking about their own lives way before they think about 442 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:29,200 yours. 443 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:30,200 And it's OK. 444 00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:31,680 It's just it's just the way it is. 445 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:32,680 Don't judge them. 446 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:33,680 Don't be upset with them. 447 00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:36,520 Just recognize that they're human, just like you. 448 00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:42,440 OK, now I want to share with you the good news. 449 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:43,440 There is good news. 450 00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:48,000 But before I share the good news, I want to remind you of what I said earlier, that there's 451 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:52,400 a structural problem with clinicians being asked to delete research who actually don't 452 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:53,840 have research training. 453 00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:56,320 That is the primary structural challenge. 454 00:22:56,320 --> 00:23:01,840 OK, the second challenge is that mentors are being asked to close a gap that systems have 455 00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:04,000 been created to fill. 456 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:07,960 Research training doesn't happen with depending on only one mentor. 457 00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:12,540 By the time you get to your senior mentor as a researcher, you've you've come along. 458 00:23:12,540 --> 00:23:14,100 Many mentors have helped you through. 459 00:23:14,100 --> 00:23:16,040 The system has helped you figure out what to do. 460 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:18,220 You've been in community with other researchers. 461 00:23:18,220 --> 00:23:23,800 There's a whole system that goes into place to prepare a researcher, a PhD researcher 462 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:27,960 for eventual research for their research, PhD. 463 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:31,360 And there's a whole system that develops you as a clinician, too. 464 00:23:31,360 --> 00:23:34,280 But that system is gone in your research training. 465 00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:35,660 It's not there. 466 00:23:35,660 --> 00:23:39,000 And a mentor, one person is asked to fill that. 467 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:40,920 Wow, it's overwhelming. 468 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:41,920 Mentors are people. 469 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:43,180 They've got a lot to do. 470 00:23:43,180 --> 00:23:47,680 And mentors have limited bandwidth or they have other priorities and they're not constantly 471 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:50,240 thinking about your career development as much as they want to. 472 00:23:50,240 --> 00:23:54,880 They are like a sleep deprived parents of triplets if they have more than one mentee 473 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:56,880 or maybe even a sleep deprived parent of one. 474 00:23:56,880 --> 00:23:58,160 Oh, he had one at a time. 475 00:23:58,160 --> 00:23:59,160 Oh my goodness. 476 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:00,160 Oh, it's hard. 477 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:02,980 Anyway, now on to the good news. 478 00:24:02,980 --> 00:24:04,160 What is the good news? 479 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:10,480 The good news is to recognize that it takes a system or a system of things to transform 480 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:14,880 a person from I don't know how to do research to I lead a research program. 481 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:15,880 I know what to do. 482 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:17,480 I help other people to do it. 483 00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:19,920 But there's a whole system. 484 00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:23,520 You can take advantage of that system for yourself as well. 485 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:24,520 Okay. 486 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:29,320 Number one, let go of this whole meant I need a one mentor that will help me model. 487 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:30,320 Let it go. 488 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:37,800 Okay, I want you to pause and just say after me, I let go every unrealistic expectation 489 00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:40,960 associated with my research mentoring. 490 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:43,680 All right. 491 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:51,080 I want you to say it one more time, I let go of every unrealistic expectation associated 492 00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:55,720 with my research mentoring. 493 00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:57,320 Thank you for saying that. 494 00:24:57,320 --> 00:24:59,880 Thank you for indulging me. 495 00:24:59,880 --> 00:25:03,480 I want you to say one more thing. 496 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:07,600 One mentor is not enough for all I need. 497 00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:12,100 Okay, please say it one more time. 498 00:25:12,100 --> 00:25:17,000 One mentor is not enough for all I need. 499 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:18,760 Thank you. 500 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:22,480 Now, finally, there's one more thing I need you to say. 501 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:28,320 I need a system, a community to help me thrive in research. 502 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:30,960 Okay, one more time. 503 00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:33,080 I need a system. 504 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:38,600 I need a community to help me thrive in my research. 505 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:40,440 Thank you for indulging me. 506 00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:43,240 And now I'm giving you the tools to your success. 507 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:50,160 Number one, it's time to set yourself up with systems that help you succeed. 508 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:53,200 Systems, what are those systems? 509 00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:55,000 A network of mentors. 510 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:58,040 And I'm not just talking about guru scientists that are doing it. 511 00:25:58,040 --> 00:25:59,040 They're awesome. 512 00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:00,540 Some of them not great mentors. 513 00:26:00,540 --> 00:26:03,200 They're awesome. 514 00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:07,840 But there's a whole system of scientists who move research forward. 515 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:11,200 You're going to leverage as many of those mentors as possible. 516 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:12,200 Okay? 517 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:15,280 You're going to say, what do I need for X, Y, Z? 518 00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:18,920 And who is the person best equipped to give it to me? 519 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:20,960 You're not asking one mentor to become your mother. 520 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:23,840 You're not asking a mentor to become your soulmate. 521 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:30,320 You're saying, who is the network or what are the different people in the network that 522 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:33,040 can support me in very specific ways? 523 00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:34,840 I need to learn to write a grant. 524 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:36,320 Who can help me do that well? 525 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:38,000 Now, this is important. 526 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:39,760 You start by defining your needs. 527 00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:44,040 The reason you define your needs is because then you can say, well, do I need a person? 528 00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:47,920 Or is there already a structure within my institution to support me to do that? 529 00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:52,280 For example, if you need to learn how to write better, your mentor doesn't have to teach 530 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:53,280 you. 531 00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:57,480 There is likely a writing program within your institution that can help you do that. 532 00:26:57,480 --> 00:26:58,520 Do you see? 533 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:02,880 Take the pressure of this one person who could teach you many things and they could teach 534 00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:06,040 you writing, but writing is not their one skill. 535 00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:10,160 There are people in the writing program at your institution and writing is the only thing 536 00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:11,640 they do. 537 00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:17,080 When you want to learn to enhance your research, you want to learn from the best of the best. 538 00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:18,920 And so you don't go to your mentor. 539 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:19,920 They're really good. 540 00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:20,920 Their writing is awesome. 541 00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:21,920 I give that to them. 542 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:23,480 You got to be really good in the science communication thing. 543 00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:27,760 But there are people whose job it is to teach writing. 544 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:31,320 And that's who you go to to enhance your writing skill. 545 00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:37,640 Another example, if your need is proposal development, if your institution sponsors 546 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:43,000 research in any way or supports research in any way, there is an office that helps people 547 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:44,280 develop proposals. 548 00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:46,480 I need to say that again. 549 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:52,440 There is an office that helps people develop proposals. 550 00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:54,400 Don't go to your mentor first. 551 00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:58,880 Go to the office that helps people develop proposals so you can get advice on how to 552 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:00,600 develop a good proposal. 553 00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:01,600 You know what? 554 00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:03,920 They may not even have time to meet with you, but they'll say, we've created a series of 555 00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:04,920 100 resources. 556 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:10,160 And you will be able to tap into those resources for your forward motion. 557 00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:11,160 Tap into systems. 558 00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:13,600 Number two, tap into communities. 559 00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:17,480 There are like-minded people like you who are trying to lead research programs. 560 00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:19,200 Do not do this by yourself. 561 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:20,200 Okay. 562 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:22,000 Do not do this by yourself. 563 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:23,520 Do not do this by yourself. 564 00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:24,520 Okay. 565 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:29,680 You will succeed because you are leveraging systems for your success and you are leveraging 566 00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:32,360 community for your success. 567 00:28:32,360 --> 00:28:34,920 You will succeed because you desire to. 568 00:28:34,920 --> 00:28:39,360 And now you understand that traditional mentoring systems are not going to get you what you 569 00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:43,760 need, but you, you can get yourself what you need. 570 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:47,480 The third thing I'm going to invite you to think about, and I say it because I'm a coach, 571 00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:53,880 so you know that I have a bias towards coaching, is that you are a high-level player. 572 00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:55,560 Can I just tell you about you? 573 00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:59,680 If you're a physician, you've come through four years of med school or more, you've come 574 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:02,840 through residency training, you've come through fellowship training, and now you're like, 575 00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:07,360 I did all that, and now I want to lead a research program, you're an incredible person. 576 00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:08,960 You are like the best of the best. 577 00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:11,400 You're the rarest of the rare. 578 00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:12,940 You're a great player. 579 00:29:12,940 --> 00:29:17,280 And every great player needs to enhance their ability to play. 580 00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:21,280 You need somebody who helps you accelerate your potential, and a coach will help you 581 00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:22,280 do that. 582 00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:25,480 I, as your coach, if you chose me, I would help you do that. 583 00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:27,080 Because, you know what? 584 00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:28,880 As your coach, I'm not going to do your work for you. 585 00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:31,880 I'm not even going to wake up in the morning with you when it's time to do your reps. 586 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:33,320 I'm just not going to be there with you. 587 00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:38,640 But what I will do is help you to craft a program for your continued forward motion and your 588 00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:39,640 success. 589 00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:43,920 I'll help you craft a structure that helps you understand, okay, who are the people who 590 00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:45,440 need to be on my mentoring team? 591 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:48,400 Who are the people I need to fire from the mentoring team? 592 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:49,400 That sounds kind of harsh. 593 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:53,560 Who are the people we need to let go of respectfully from our mentoring team because maybe they 594 00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:54,960 tear us down? 595 00:29:54,960 --> 00:30:00,920 These are all the things that I, and not just me, any coach can really help you structure 596 00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:03,040 this experience that you're about to build. 597 00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:07,440 Because you're not going to go forward looking for one mentor to save you. 598 00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:13,760 You're going to develop a system and create or become part of a community that supports 599 00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:14,760 your success. 600 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:17,880 Look, I want to tell you that you can do this. 601 00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:22,680 I want to invite you to take the very first step, just one step this week, one step. 602 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:27,640 I want you to ask yourself, what are the systems at my institution that support my research 603 00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:28,640 development? 604 00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:30,640 I'm asking you to not think about mentors right now. 605 00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:32,720 I'm just thinking about systems. 606 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:35,500 Is there a writing program at your institution? 607 00:30:35,500 --> 00:30:40,220 Is there a place that you can go to get your grant proposal looked at? 608 00:30:40,220 --> 00:30:44,000 Is there someone who can help you with resources for your proposal development? 609 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:49,080 Okay, I'm asking you to look away from your clinicians, look away from your mentors, and 610 00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:54,520 start looking to the systems within your institution that support research. 611 00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:58,720 This week I want you to make a list of them, and I want you to choose one. 612 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:02,520 I want you to just access that one resource in support of your career. 613 00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:06,880 One, just one, just one, just choose one, and access that resource. 614 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:08,800 You're not going to ask them to be a mentor. 615 00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:10,560 You're accessing a system. 616 00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:15,280 Choose one, do it this week, and if you want to, come tell me about what that resource 617 00:31:15,280 --> 00:31:19,480 is and how you leveraged it in support of your research program. 618 00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:24,320 Now imagine if you just came up with a list of five to seven systems and you chose one 619 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:30,120 system every week to leverage in support of your career development. 620 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:36,200 Imagine the kind of system you would have at the end of the year working for you towards 621 00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:43,040 your growth as a scholar, your growth as a researcher, your growth as someone who creates 622 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:48,120 a body of work that transforms and enhances patient care. 623 00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:50,960 Oh my gosh, that would be so awesome. 624 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:52,200 I can't wait to see it. 625 00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:53,600 Yep, definitely coming. 626 00:31:53,600 --> 00:31:55,000 I can see it happening already. 627 00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:59,400 I'm going to invite you to embrace it and make it part of your experience. 628 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:03,080 If you don't already have a coach and you're looking for one, I'm here for you. 629 00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:04,800 Let me know how I can serve you. 630 00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:07,640 We'll set up a mentoring, set up a coaching call. 631 00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:10,920 I have mentees, and so sometimes I think about mentoring. 632 00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:14,640 My coaching work is different from the mentoring, but I'm inviting you to set up a coaching 633 00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:15,640 consulting call. 634 00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:16,640 Let's talk about your dreams. 635 00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:19,840 Let's talk about your goals and how I can help you get there. 636 00:32:19,840 --> 00:32:23,000 All right, enjoy your time away from this podcast. 637 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:26,080 I'm looking forward to the very next one to help you succeed. 638 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:33,360 All right, you take care and please share this with someone else. 639 00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:39,440 Bye bye. 640 00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:44,800 Thanks for listening to this episode of the Clinician Researcher Podcast, where academic 641 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:50,240 clinicians learn the skills to build their own research program, whether or not they 642 00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:51,600 have a mentor. 643 00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:57,720 If you found the information in this episode to be helpful, don't keep it all to yourself. 644 00:32:57,720 --> 00:32:59,440 Someone else needs to hear it. 645 00:32:59,440 --> 00:33:03,500 So take a minute right now and share it. 646 00:33:03,500 --> 00:33:08,960 As you share this episode, you become part of our mission to help launch a new generation 647 00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:14,920 of clinician researchers who make transformative discoveries that change the way we do healthcare.