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 --> 00:01:01,240 Now introducing your host, Toyosi Onwuemene. 12 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:04,020 Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast. 13 00:01:04,020 --> 00:01:08,900 I'm your host, Toyosi Onwuemene, and it is a pleasure to be speaking with you right now. 14 00:01:08,900 --> 00:01:13,020 Today, I'm going to talk to you about how I create a strategic plan. 15 00:01:13,020 --> 00:01:19,600 So last week I talked about the strategic plan, and I had questions. 16 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:25,180 Asked of me about how I create a strategic plan, and I'm excited to talk about it today 17 00:01:25,180 --> 00:01:30,560 because I have to say that making a strategic plan is one of the things that's really changed 18 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:32,220 my academic productivity. 19 00:01:32,220 --> 00:01:38,960 It just really helped me focus, and it gave me the opportunity to have serious productivity. 20 00:01:38,960 --> 00:01:43,480 Up until the time that I started creating a strategic plan, I maybe published a paper 21 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:47,480 or less a year. 22 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:53,120 And since creating the strategic plan, it's been so awesome, my productivity has increased. 23 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:57,000 Probably on average, we do four to six manuscripts a year that are published, so you know they 24 00:01:57,000 --> 00:01:59,040 go through the system. 25 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:04,920 But anyway, so yes, a strategic plan is so helpful because it's a roadmap. 26 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:08,000 You stop looking around and saying, well, what project can I do? 27 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:09,760 You're like, well, I have these projects. 28 00:02:09,760 --> 00:02:11,640 I should be working on them. 29 00:02:11,640 --> 00:02:18,160 You stop looking around and asking, well, what can I work on now? 30 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:21,880 You have it before you, so you know that you have things to work on. 31 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:24,160 So the strategic plan is awesome. 32 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:25,160 I highly recommend it. 33 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:30,720 And I'm going to talk to you today about five steps to a strategic plan. 34 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:34,520 Five steps to a strategic plan. 35 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:42,680 So the very first thing I do is I have an overarching goal for my future. 36 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:48,360 And to answer the question of what is your overarching goal for your future is to ask, 37 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:49,560 why are you here? 38 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:51,320 Why are you in academia? 39 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:52,920 You are a brilliant clinician. 40 00:02:52,920 --> 00:02:54,600 You could totally be doing anything else. 41 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:56,280 You could own your own practice. 42 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:58,220 You could be working in another person's practice. 43 00:02:58,220 --> 00:02:59,880 You could be working with the government. 44 00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:01,720 There are jobs at FDA. 45 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:04,100 You could be working in industry. 46 00:03:04,100 --> 00:03:06,080 So why are you here? 47 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:12,040 Why are you here in academia where you command the lowest salary that you could of anywhere 48 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:13,480 that you work? 49 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:15,680 Why are you here? 50 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:23,160 And so the first question in creating my strategic plan that I ask myself is, why am I here? 51 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:27,960 And it's important because it allows me to have an overarching goal for my career. 52 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:29,520 I'm not here to play. 53 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:32,920 I'm not here to see only patients. 54 00:03:32,920 --> 00:03:37,160 Patients are important, and they're the foundation of my clinical training. 55 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:46,720 But what I realize is that health care, as it is right now, serves a lot of people, but 56 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:48,840 it could serve more people. 57 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:52,200 And there are so many questions that are yet to be answered. 58 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:56,480 And I came to my career so that I could have impact, so that I could impact not just the 59 00:03:56,480 --> 00:04:02,840 patient in front of me, but the patient beyond that patient and patients beyond my lifetime. 60 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:04,720 I came to have impact. 61 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:11,840 I came to create a body of scholarly work that serves as a legacy that lives on after 62 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:12,840 me. 63 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:17,120 And I believe that academia is my vehicle to do that. 64 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:19,260 And so yeah, it's why I came. 65 00:04:19,260 --> 00:04:22,320 And so that's why it was a shock to me when I started. 66 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:26,880 And they're like, of course, you can be scholarly, but here's all this clinical work. 67 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:28,680 Good luck. 68 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:33,120 And because I have that overarching goal, I've continued to pursue it. 69 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:36,080 And my strategic plan is my vehicle to do that. 70 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:39,040 Yes, clinical care is still part of what I do. 71 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:43,660 But in order to help the patient beyond the patient, I really do need to give space and 72 00:04:43,660 --> 00:04:46,160 time to my scholarly work. 73 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:51,800 And so my strategic plan, first of all, starts with an overarching goal for my career. 74 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:52,800 Why did I come? 75 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:57,640 And yes, there are people around me who say, oh, no, no, no, clinicians don't do that 76 00:04:57,640 --> 00:04:58,640 anymore. 77 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:01,080 That was in the days of Ian Fleming. 78 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:02,440 Not today. 79 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:04,240 But I believe it's achievable today. 80 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:06,800 I'm here because the dream is achievable. 81 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:08,480 I'm here because other people are doing it. 82 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:13,320 I'm not even the first to say I want a scholarly research career as a clinician. 83 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:14,840 I'm not the first. 84 00:05:14,840 --> 00:05:17,520 So is it extraordinary? 85 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:20,640 Some people would say it is, but I would say it's not. 86 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:28,760 And so my overarching goal leads me in creating my strategic plan because I want to lead a 87 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:35,240 scholarly program of research that moves forward patient care, that transforms the lives of 88 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:36,560 patients. 89 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:39,640 I pay attention to my scholarly work. 90 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:44,760 And my strategic plan is a vehicle that helps me get there. 91 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:52,160 So number one is to be very clear about why you're here in academia and what you're here 92 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:53,160 to accomplish. 93 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:58,160 And I want to take a step back and say, I didn't always know that, or at least I couldn't 94 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:00,760 always articulate that. 95 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:02,680 When I started, I just wanted to do research. 96 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:04,160 And that's all I could say. 97 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:05,640 And people would say, well, what do you want to do? 98 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:06,640 What do you want to do? 99 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:07,640 I'm like, I want to do research. 100 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:09,000 And they're like, yeah, but what do you want to do? 101 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,000 And I was like, well, I don't know. 102 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:14,920 I mean, I guess I could do cancer associated with thrombosis. 103 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:16,440 Actually, I really want to do sickle cell. 104 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:21,000 I just had so many things that I was interested in. 105 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:23,680 And it's because I was interested in many things. 106 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:25,560 In fact, I'm still interested in many things. 107 00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:30,400 If you're going to have impact, though, you choose one and you really focus in on that 108 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:34,960 one thing, or you choose no more than a couple and really focus in. 109 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:41,960 And when I began to realize that as I grew in the academy, then I had to narrow it down. 110 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:42,960 And focus. 111 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:45,360 And I'm not just now saying, well, I want to lead research. 112 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:47,880 It's like, well, I'm very specific. 113 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:52,540 I have come to the specific population to make this specific change. 114 00:06:52,540 --> 00:06:53,540 This is my goal. 115 00:06:53,540 --> 00:06:59,920 And if I achieve this goal, or when I achieve this goal, it'll have been an amazing, amazing 116 00:06:59,920 --> 00:07:00,920 achievement. 117 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:03,600 I would be like, whoa, this was a great achievement. 118 00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:05,280 You know what I mean? 119 00:07:05,280 --> 00:07:06,280 Just wow. 120 00:07:06,280 --> 00:07:10,800 I'm just excited just thinking about all the lives my work is going to change. 121 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:12,960 And so now I can articulate it. 122 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:14,520 Now I understand it. 123 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:15,520 Now I have the words. 124 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:20,440 You know, in a sense, when I started, I was like a baby who could hear everybody speaking, 125 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:22,640 but I couldn't yet speak the language. 126 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:24,600 And that's for many of us clinicians. 127 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:29,000 We understand research globally, but we don't understand the language of research. 128 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:33,040 And not just the language people speak around research, but the way people behave and act 129 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:34,520 around research. 130 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:38,760 And it's by watching and being in close proximity with people who are succeeding in research 131 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:43,200 that we're able to now be able to develop our own language and be able to put words 132 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:46,080 to our feelings, to our experiences. 133 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:50,680 And so my overarching goal is my first step. 134 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:55,760 The second thing I do is I write down all the things that need to move my scholarly 135 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:57,400 work forward. 136 00:07:57,400 --> 00:08:00,880 And those are mostly the things that have no accountability. 137 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:02,640 I don't put anything clinical on there. 138 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:04,000 I don't put clinical care. 139 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:08,440 I don't even really put my presentations that I do at work. 140 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:12,920 I don't because, you know what, if I don't show up to clinic, I'm going to hear about 141 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:13,920 it. 142 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:18,080 If I don't show up to round in the hospital, three people are going to call me within the 143 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:19,080 hour. 144 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:20,080 Right? 145 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:23,800 There is built-in accountability for many things that we do in clinical care. 146 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:25,160 But guess what? 147 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:28,800 If I don't publish the paper, you know, it'll just be a paper that wasn't published. 148 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:30,320 No one will know. 149 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:36,200 If I don't move my, you know, grant writing forward, no one will know that I'm not working 150 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:37,200 on the grant. 151 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:41,120 It'll just be like a year later and at my annual review, it will say, okay, yeah, what 152 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:42,120 grants did you submit? 153 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:45,440 And I'll be like, well, you know, it was, right? 154 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:49,000 There's no accountability, at least not an immediate accountability. 155 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:54,640 Like, okay, maybe in a year, someone will ask me, how does that help me today? 156 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:58,400 But clinical care, if I don't show up, somebody will call me within the hour. 157 00:08:58,400 --> 00:08:59,400 The patient is waiting. 158 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:00,400 Where are you? 159 00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:05,840 And so the things that I want to move forward in my scholarly work that have no built-in 160 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:09,560 accountability are the things that go on my plan. 161 00:09:09,560 --> 00:09:16,800 So I write down the list of everything that I want to accomplish that's not, that doesn't 162 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:18,960 have any built-in accountability. 163 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:21,840 And that's step number two. 164 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:24,000 It's a long list of things I want to accomplish. 165 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:26,840 And usually I'm a little bit ambitious. 166 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:28,880 Or maybe it's not even so much ambition. 167 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:32,720 It's that I don't really have a sense of how much it takes to do the things I say I want 168 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:33,760 to do. 169 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:35,560 And so I just have big goals. 170 00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:38,240 And I'm like, yes, publish paper. 171 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:41,320 What does it take to publish paper? 172 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:42,320 Analyze the results. 173 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:44,880 What does it take to analyze the results? 174 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:45,880 Collect the data. 175 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:48,160 What does it take to collect the data? 176 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:49,160 Submit the IRB. 177 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:50,160 Wow. 178 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:52,320 All I wanted to do was publish the paper. 179 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:56,480 And all of a sudden I've dreamed up four steps before I can publish the paper. 180 00:09:56,480 --> 00:10:02,500 And so I have not always been realistic about what I can accomplish within the timeframe 181 00:10:02,500 --> 00:10:04,680 that I want to accomplish it. 182 00:10:04,680 --> 00:10:08,200 But that's not where I start, though, when it comes to writing the list. 183 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:09,880 I just write a list. 184 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:14,400 Like, this is all the things that I want to accomplish. 185 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:19,960 This is the list of everything that is important to me in terms of my scholarly productivity. 186 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:20,960 OK. 187 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:21,960 So I have a list. 188 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:22,960 It's a full list. 189 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:23,960 It's got a lot of things. 190 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:24,960 It's just like a brain dump. 191 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:27,600 Just put everything on there. 192 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:31,680 Number three, I create a category for grant submissions. 193 00:10:31,680 --> 00:10:34,760 I create a category for grant submissions. 194 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:38,880 I create a category for grant submissions. 195 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:41,420 My grant submissions category is first. 196 00:10:41,420 --> 00:10:45,120 It's the thing of all that I do that I love to do the least. 197 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:47,720 I don't hate it, but I love it the least. 198 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:50,860 I enjoy writing, but I love it the least. 199 00:10:50,860 --> 00:10:53,460 And so it comes as number one. 200 00:10:53,460 --> 00:10:58,660 Because no matter whether I love it or not, it's a big driver of my research program. 201 00:10:58,660 --> 00:11:02,060 Because when I have funding, I can focus on the work. 202 00:11:02,060 --> 00:11:05,360 When I have funding, I can recruit other people to the work. 203 00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:11,360 When I have funding, I can more easily convince collaborators to be part of the work. 204 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:16,220 Funding is critical to the forward motion of my research program. 205 00:11:16,220 --> 00:11:21,480 And therefore, I spend a lot of time making offers. 206 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:25,700 And I call it making offers now because now I understand in business is what you do. 207 00:11:25,700 --> 00:11:26,900 You make offers. 208 00:11:26,900 --> 00:11:31,060 No one can buy your product until you offer them the product to buy. 209 00:11:31,060 --> 00:11:35,080 Nobody can fund my research program until I make it clear what my research program is 210 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:36,080 about. 211 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:40,000 And so writing grants is the vehicle for funding my research program. 212 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:41,500 Therefore I write grants. 213 00:11:41,500 --> 00:11:44,040 And it's on my strategic plan. 214 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:49,240 I look forward to the next three months because each strategic plan I create, I create for 215 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:51,320 a three-month period. 216 00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:53,460 It's a three-month strategic plan. 217 00:11:53,460 --> 00:11:57,660 And to be honest, I've experimented with a couple more months, a couple fewer months. 218 00:11:57,660 --> 00:12:01,800 And I would say I think the sweet spot for me is actually a four-month strategic plan. 219 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:05,960 It's sufficient time to get work done without being overwhelming. 220 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:06,960 Okay. 221 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:10,000 So I create a category for grant submissions. 222 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:12,280 And that is number three. 223 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:15,880 What grants over the next four months am I going to submit? 224 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:19,580 Now what's interesting is that I do need to look further ahead. 225 00:12:19,580 --> 00:12:24,560 And before this step, I've actually gone back and decided what are upcoming opportunities. 226 00:12:24,560 --> 00:12:27,640 You know, there are some opportunities that come every year. 227 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:31,160 So if I miss the last cycle, I'll get the next one. 228 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:33,160 There's some opportunities that are limited. 229 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:35,160 It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. 230 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:38,880 I'm just going to pause and tell you that there is no such thing as a once-in-a-lifetime 231 00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:39,880 opportunity. 232 00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:42,120 In life, there will always be opportunity. 233 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:43,320 It will come from everywhere. 234 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:47,200 If you miss this opportunity, there'll be another opportunity and then the next opportunity 235 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:48,780 after that. 236 00:12:48,780 --> 00:12:54,080 So my point is that never get anxious or afraid or allow yourself to be thrown off course 237 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:58,960 by a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because the reality of life is that opportunities 238 00:12:58,960 --> 00:13:01,380 will always come looking for you. 239 00:13:01,380 --> 00:13:03,200 Your job is to prepare for them. 240 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:04,200 Okay. 241 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:08,040 So I was talking about the grants that I write for and that I, you know, I put on my list. 242 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:13,640 I have already earlier gone and looked and seen what are the RFAs that usually come around 243 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:15,040 this time of year? 244 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:16,600 Which grants am I committing to? 245 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:19,840 What makes sense realistically as far as timeline? 246 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:23,800 And sometimes the grants are due at the beginning of my strategic plan quarter or at the end 247 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:26,280 of it and it just helps me plan. 248 00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:31,280 So the grants I'm going to submit are on my strategic plan is really the first thing I 249 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:32,600 put on the strategic plan. 250 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:33,600 Okay. 251 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:36,840 That's number three, my category for grant submissions. 252 00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:38,880 Number four is my category for manuscripts. 253 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:42,760 I have to tell you that this is my favorite category. 254 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:43,760 Can you feel the love? 255 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:44,760 Yes. 256 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:45,760 I love manuscripts. 257 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:46,760 Oh my goodness. 258 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:47,760 They're so awesome. 259 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:48,760 Okay. 260 00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:52,160 So I have to take a step back and tell you I love writing. 261 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:56,200 When I was a child, I wanted to be a writer. 262 00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:59,120 And you know, I don't know why we ask kids this question. 263 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:00,920 We're like, what do you want to be when you grow up? 264 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:05,720 And I tell you the funniest and best answer I've ever heard was a kid who said, I want 265 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:06,720 to be a good person. 266 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:08,160 And I'm like, go kid. 267 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:10,200 Yes, that's exactly right. 268 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:11,480 Your goal is to be a good person. 269 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:15,040 What's all this stuff where it's like, you know, I've got to decide what I am before 270 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:16,920 I even understand what the world's about. 271 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:21,640 Anyway, I'm getting off the soapbox now to say that when I was a child and people would 272 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:24,240 ask me that question, what do you want to be when you grow up? 273 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:26,080 I said, I want to be a writer. 274 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:31,080 And I said that because I loved books and I love the power of storytellers to change 275 00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:32,080 my life. 276 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:34,960 I didn't go out much when I was a kid. 277 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:39,200 My siblings would be out playing, learning to ride bikes, doing all these fun things. 278 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:43,520 And I would just be holed up in the bathroom reading a book. 279 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:45,600 I loved books. 280 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:47,680 I traveled the world in the books. 281 00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:52,000 Anyway, so that is the reason why I felt I was going to be a writer. 282 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:53,640 So I love writing. 283 00:14:53,640 --> 00:14:55,080 And my parents discouraged me. 284 00:14:55,080 --> 00:14:56,080 At least my family did. 285 00:14:56,080 --> 00:14:58,480 They were like, yeah, you can be a writer. 286 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:01,080 But what are you going to do for money? 287 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:05,120 Yeah, so being a physician was my second plan. 288 00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:07,080 So anyway, I love writing. 289 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:10,520 And so writing manuscripts is one of my loves in science. 290 00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:15,560 We love writing beyond science writing, but when it comes to my scholarly productivity, 291 00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:17,320 my best kind of writing is manuscripts. 292 00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:19,720 So they're number two. 293 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:22,720 And I list them because I love writing. 294 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:25,380 And what I do is I list all appending manuscripts. 295 00:15:25,380 --> 00:15:27,880 So I have a publication pipeline. 296 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:32,560 And I will need to record a podcast episode as to what a publication pipeline is, if that's 297 00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:34,760 not something that's familiar to you. 298 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:40,440 But just in brief, it's just a list of publications that you have either in concept, in development, 299 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:45,360 already in progress, in data collection, just the different phases of your publication, 300 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:46,360 of your publications. 301 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:50,120 How many are submitted in review, in revision, just that whole list. 302 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:54,560 You have a timeline so you know where the publications are and what is the next step 303 00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:56,180 on each publication. 304 00:15:56,180 --> 00:15:58,600 So I have a publication pipeline. 305 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:06,640 And so going into the quarter with my strategic plan, what I do is I list all my publications. 306 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:08,220 And I list them in order of priority. 307 00:16:08,220 --> 00:16:11,360 So priority is original research manuscripts first. 308 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:14,040 So those are kind of like in my first list. 309 00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:20,400 And then everything else, reviews, case reports, all those great pieces of writing that don't 310 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:24,040 carry as much weight as the original research article. 311 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:25,800 Those are second tier on my list. 312 00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:28,120 And so I write them all out. 313 00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:32,280 And I will confess, and please do not tell Carrie Ann Rockamore, who taught me how to 314 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:37,260 do a strategic plan, I will confess, I have 10 manuscripts on my strategic plan going 315 00:16:37,260 --> 00:16:38,740 into any quarter. 316 00:16:38,740 --> 00:16:42,520 And I don't have 10 manuscripts because I hope to submit 10 manuscripts in the quarter. 317 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:46,400 But I just have a list of things that I'm working on so that if there is ever a day, 318 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:50,160 I wake up and I'm like, wow, I don't have any work to do. 319 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:51,360 I have all this free time. 320 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:54,800 I look at my list and I'm like, wow, there are 10 manuscripts on there. 321 00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:56,720 Which one are you working on today? 322 00:16:56,720 --> 00:17:01,280 So there's just always that sense, not of anxiety, but always a reminder that there 323 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:02,680 is work to be done, lady. 324 00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:04,040 You are not free. 325 00:17:04,040 --> 00:17:05,040 You have work. 326 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:07,040 And but it's not also a thing of overwhelm. 327 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:11,800 If I do not complete 10 manuscripts submission, and I'm yet to people, so the goal is not 328 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:13,280 the 10 manuscripts. 329 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:15,560 The point is not the 10 manuscripts. 330 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:21,240 The point is just to remind me to keep moving work forward and to not be complacent. 331 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:24,880 It also helps me because when people are like, well, Dr. Momener, clearly your schedule is 332 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:25,880 free. 333 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:30,720 I'm like, no, it's not because there are 10 manuscripts that need to be addressed. 334 00:17:30,720 --> 00:17:32,840 I don't have time for your extra stuff. 335 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:34,120 So it's very helpful to me. 336 00:17:34,120 --> 00:17:35,120 And that's what I do. 337 00:17:35,120 --> 00:17:36,800 And I love manuscripts. 338 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:41,360 And getting to the place now where I have a lot of trainees working with me and they 339 00:17:41,360 --> 00:17:45,600 get first dibs on writing manuscripts, which I have to tell you, it slows me down in the 340 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:50,840 sense that I'm a faster manuscript writer than a fast than you know, if somebody else 341 00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:54,440 is writing the manuscript alongside me, then I'm really coaching them to write. 342 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:56,600 And I have to tell you that it's so fun. 343 00:17:56,600 --> 00:18:01,760 And if you're not yet doing that, like mentoring someone to write, you absolutely should. 344 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:06,540 Because no matter what stage of career you are in, you can always mentor somebody else. 345 00:18:06,540 --> 00:18:10,640 It's really fun to mentor someone in something you already know. 346 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:15,160 But that means that my manuscripts don't move as fast as I would want them to. 347 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:17,360 And that's part of the reason why I have 10. 348 00:18:17,360 --> 00:18:22,840 Because at any given time, my first authors are not ready to move the manuscript forward. 349 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:28,600 So anyway, I have a lot and I enjoy writing manuscripts and I actually really enjoy mentoring 350 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:31,480 the trainees who are helping me write manuscripts now. 351 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:34,880 And so there's a category on my strategic plan for manuscripts. 352 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:37,240 And that's number four. 353 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:39,080 Number five is my creative pursuits. 354 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:43,600 I told you that as a child, I always wanted to be a writer. 355 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:45,000 Writing is my dream. 356 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:46,160 It's my happy place. 357 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:48,480 I love to craft sentences. 358 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:50,240 I love writing. 359 00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:54,260 Yes, roll your eyes, call me a nerd, whatever you want to do. 360 00:18:54,260 --> 00:18:55,440 It's the thing that I love. 361 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:56,640 What's the thing that you love? 362 00:18:56,640 --> 00:18:57,640 Yeah, own it. 363 00:18:57,640 --> 00:18:59,840 And I own my own my writing love. 364 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:00,840 I love writing. 365 00:19:00,840 --> 00:19:05,600 But I tell you that when I was a child saying I love writing, I want to be a writer, I was 366 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:10,680 reading books that excited me and that, you know, lifted me to new places of imagination 367 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:12,200 and creativity. 368 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:15,180 I was not writing science manuscripts. 369 00:19:15,180 --> 00:19:16,580 I was not. 370 00:19:16,580 --> 00:19:22,680 And so even though I write manuscripts and science and yeah, it's awesome and amazing, 371 00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:27,040 even more awesome and awesome and amazing are all the manuscripts I write that have 372 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:29,620 nothing to do with science. 373 00:19:29,620 --> 00:19:32,840 So they're my number three category. 374 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:34,360 So my first category is grant submissions. 375 00:19:34,360 --> 00:19:35,880 My second category is manuscripts. 376 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:37,720 They're my number three category. 377 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:40,520 They're my most important category to my life. 378 00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:44,520 But they're number three right now as I'm a faculty member in an academic institution 379 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:47,840 where scholarly manuscripts are number one. 380 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:51,560 But I don't allow my own creative pursuits to fall off because you know what? 381 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:52,560 They give me life. 382 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:57,160 Oh my goodness, the kind of energy that comes out of my body from writing a manuscript that 383 00:19:57,160 --> 00:19:58,160 I love. 384 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:01,600 I mean you should check out my most recent publication, Miracle of Gratitude. 385 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:05,200 You can buy it on Amazon. 386 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:06,200 But I do. 387 00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:07,200 I do. 388 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:11,400 And I will tell you, one of the reasons I have it on my strategic plan is because it's 389 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:14,320 writing that gives me joy. 390 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:17,640 And it's writing where I don't have to jump through hoops. 391 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:20,960 I don't have to jump through hoops of the reviewers say go change this. 392 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:23,760 I mean, every writing can be improved by reviewers. 393 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:26,160 And I do have my own writing review. 394 00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:31,480 Like I will send my own writing out to be reviewed by my company of reviewers. 395 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:35,520 But they're like family and friends and they love me. 396 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:39,260 So they're not going to try to tear me down with their review, you know, with their reviews. 397 00:20:39,260 --> 00:20:41,840 But so I do send out my manuscripts for review. 398 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:46,240 However, what I'm saying is that it's a space for my creativity. 399 00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:50,960 And so I do not allow it to be subject to the same, you know, sometimes the, you know, 400 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:57,240 tear you down kind of reviews that can come back through, you know, reviewers for journals 401 00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:01,040 because, you know, there are a lot of people who are burned out and the burnout kind of 402 00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:03,760 just, you know, explodes in different places. 403 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:05,520 And sometimes it's onto your manuscript. 404 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:06,960 Wow, I digress. 405 00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:13,360 But I'm coming back to say I have a category for my creative pursuits because I love writing. 406 00:21:13,360 --> 00:21:17,840 And the writing that really brings me energy and just oh my gosh, it's just such a beautiful 407 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:20,560 place for me is my own writing. 408 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:22,120 And I publish my own work. 409 00:21:22,120 --> 00:21:27,280 I do because it's like, yeah, all my other stuff can go through the publication process. 410 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:29,440 Stuff I write for myself, I publish for myself. 411 00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:32,880 So I have my own publishing company that allows me to do that. 412 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:37,640 But anyway, so those are the three major categories because grants are important to fund my research 413 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:39,840 programs or grants are on there. 414 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:43,360 Manuscripts are important to move my scholarly work forward and communicate my science. 415 00:21:43,360 --> 00:21:44,360 And so I do that. 416 00:21:44,360 --> 00:21:49,840 But my creative pursuits give me joy and they're on my strategic plan as well. 417 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:54,880 Okay, so that's five things that I do to create the strategic plan. 418 00:21:54,880 --> 00:22:00,760 And then I put them in an Excel spreadsheet and I outline them over the 12 weeks. 419 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:03,920 So it's like you have 12 weeks in this quarter. 420 00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:05,440 What are you going to work on in week one? 421 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:08,720 I have only three things I allow myself to put in any one week. 422 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:13,280 And to be honest, it probably would be sufficient to have just one thing per week. 423 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:15,440 But I put three things. 424 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:18,280 And that's because, you know, your work is staggered. 425 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:21,880 And so you're ready to write, but that manuscript is not ready for you. 426 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:23,480 So what else are you going to work on? 427 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:25,260 That's why I have three things every week. 428 00:22:25,260 --> 00:22:30,480 So I go through, I look at the 12 weeks and I arrange everything, you know, only three 429 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:34,400 major things over the 12 week period. 430 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:36,160 What I prioritize is grants. 431 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:40,160 I prioritize grants according to when the submission deadline is and not the external 432 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:46,000 deadline but our institutional deadline, which is freaky long before the grant is due. 433 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:47,440 Oh, did I say that? 434 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:48,560 I'm taking it back. 435 00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:53,400 I appreciate my grants office and the thoroughness with which they review my grants. 436 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:54,560 Thank you, grant office. 437 00:22:54,560 --> 00:23:00,160 OK, so I write the grants out first and they take priority based on the deadline. 438 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:03,000 And then the second thing are my manuscripts. 439 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:05,320 And then the third thing are my creative pursuits. 440 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:09,160 I don't put my creative pursuits on there first, even though I love creativity and I 441 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:11,440 really enjoy that piece. 442 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:15,240 Because to some extent, that's work I'm going to be doing anyway. 443 00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:19,120 And I don't really need anybody to give me accountability to do that work. 444 00:23:19,120 --> 00:23:20,160 I will do it. 445 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:23,080 And so what it helps me do is accomplish all the other things. 446 00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:27,320 Like I finished the grant, I finished the manuscript, and now I can look forward to 447 00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:32,960 it's like the dessert at the end of a big, healthy meal. 448 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:34,640 It's like, oh my gosh, I get to eat this dessert. 449 00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:38,560 And it helps you just go through the stuff, the broccoli and all the stuff that you might 450 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:40,760 not want to eat so you can get to the dessert. 451 00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:44,320 And so my creative writing goes last on the list. 452 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:47,560 And after I finished all the things, at least there's nothing left to do. 453 00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:51,160 It's like, oh, well, I'm ready to work on that paper, but it's not available. 454 00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:52,840 I'm going to write my own creative pursuits. 455 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:56,420 So anyway, that is how I create my strategic plan. 456 00:23:56,420 --> 00:24:01,000 And then what I do is I take it off the Excel spreadsheet, I make it into a big PowerPoint 457 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:03,520 poster, and I print it. 458 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:05,000 I send it out to the printers. 459 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:09,800 Yes, I pay money to send it out to the printers and I make it into a big poster. 460 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:11,220 And then I put it in my office. 461 00:24:11,220 --> 00:24:15,920 It's a big poster on my office and there it is. 462 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:16,980 There is the accountability. 463 00:24:16,980 --> 00:24:19,220 It's like, that's what you said you were going to do this quarter. 464 00:24:19,220 --> 00:24:20,220 There it is. 465 00:24:20,220 --> 00:24:23,920 And as I finish things, I go and I cross it off. 466 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:28,600 And if you were ever an amazing intern like I was, okay, maybe my residents might not 467 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:33,520 have called me an amazing intern, but I became better over the course of the year. 468 00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:34,520 Okay. 469 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:36,740 As an amazing intern, you have a checklist. 470 00:24:36,740 --> 00:24:39,040 Every good intern has a checklist. 471 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:40,760 I love checklists. 472 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:46,360 And so what sweetness to go through and just cross things off my strategic plan. 473 00:24:46,360 --> 00:24:48,680 Oh my gosh, it's so awesome. 474 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:49,680 Okay. 475 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:52,760 It is really awesome to be able to cross things off the strategic plan. 476 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:53,880 So I get to do that. 477 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:55,640 And so there it is. 478 00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:58,000 That's how I create a strategic plan. 479 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:03,320 I create a strategic plan every quarter, but really I create a strategic time three times 480 00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:05,720 a year. 481 00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:09,960 And I also actually this year I tried something different. 482 00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:15,960 I tried to do a transitional strategic plan because now that my, I have older children 483 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:20,440 now, older as in they are not your teenagers, but they're older than, you know, when they 484 00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:23,360 were, when they required me for everything. 485 00:25:23,360 --> 00:25:27,960 I realize now that their schedules affect my productivity. 486 00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:31,560 For example, the summer schedule is a different schedule from the school schedule. 487 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:34,700 I welcome the school schedule because it just gives us routine. 488 00:25:34,700 --> 00:25:38,920 I can be very, I know when things are happening because I know when the school day ends and 489 00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:40,720 I know exactly what time I have. 490 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:42,240 So it does vary. 491 00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:46,180 So this year I experimented with two strategic plans, one for the first half of the year 492 00:25:46,180 --> 00:25:51,740 into the summer and then the second for the second half of the year after the summer, 493 00:25:51,740 --> 00:25:55,380 because the summer is kind of like a, you know, there's a lot, there's a lot of moving 494 00:25:55,380 --> 00:25:59,240 targets during the summer and it's not always realistic to imagine that I can accomplish 495 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:00,440 so much during the summer. 496 00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:04,840 So I experimented with two strategic plans this year and I'll have to see if I continue 497 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:05,840 it into the future. 498 00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:07,920 But yeah, there it is. 499 00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:10,420 My summary of how I create a strategic plan. 500 00:26:10,420 --> 00:26:14,940 I want to invite you this week to create your own strategic plan. 501 00:26:14,940 --> 00:26:16,360 Maybe you've never done it. 502 00:26:16,360 --> 00:26:20,400 Maybe you've never really thought about your overarching goal for your career. 503 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:21,940 Today is the day. 504 00:26:21,940 --> 00:26:23,440 Go write it all on paper. 505 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:29,900 What are the scholarly pursuits that you have that no one, no one is going to pursue you? 506 00:26:29,900 --> 00:26:31,980 Maybe your mentor will yell at you. 507 00:26:31,980 --> 00:26:33,680 Please don't let mentors yell at you. 508 00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:35,160 Yelling is not okay. 509 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:38,680 But for the most part, no one's knocking at your door saying, are you working on that 510 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:39,680 paper this morning? 511 00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:43,360 Most of the time people are not doing that, but they will knock on your door and say, 512 00:26:43,360 --> 00:26:44,360 where are you? 513 00:26:44,360 --> 00:26:45,360 The patient's waiting. 514 00:26:45,360 --> 00:26:50,200 And so what are the things that are on your list of scholarly activities that need to 515 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:52,080 be on a strategic plan? 516 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:53,080 Write them down. 517 00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:54,080 And guess what? 518 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:55,080 I would love to hear them. 519 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:56,520 I would love for you to share them with me. 520 00:26:56,520 --> 00:26:58,960 Share how you created your own strategic plan. 521 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:03,520 Take a picture and send it to me via our podcast website, clinicianresearcherpodcast.com. 522 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:06,440 All right, it's been such a pleasure talking with you today. 523 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:11,040 I have to tell you, I have so much fun talking about the strategic plan. 524 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:12,920 Yes, totally nerd activity. 525 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:15,760 All right, it's been a pleasure talking with you today. 526 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:19,240 Please share this episode with somebody else who needs to create a strategic plan. 527 00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:22,240 All right, talk to you soon. 528 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:23,240 Bye. 529 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:33,240 Thanks for listening to this episode of the Clinician Researcher Podcast. 530 00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:39,360 Where academic clinicians learn the skills to build their own research program, whether 531 00:27:39,360 --> 00:27:41,760 or not they have a mentor. 532 00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:47,880 If you found the information in this episode to be helpful, don't keep it all to yourself. 533 00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:49,600 Someone else needs to hear it. 534 00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:53,680 So take a minute right now and share it. 535 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:59,120 As you share this episode, you become part of our mission to help launch a new generation 536 00:27:59,120 --> 00:28:05,080 of clinician researchers who make transformative discoveries that change the way we do healthcare.