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 --> 00:00:29,180
program.

7
00:00:29,180 --> 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 --> 00:01:03,060
Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast.

13
00:01:03,060 --> 00:01:07,180
I'm your host, Toyosi Onwuemene, and it is an absolute pleasure to be talking with you

14
00:01:07,180 --> 00:01:08,180
today.

15
00:01:08,180 --> 00:01:09,900
Thank you so much for tuning in.

16
00:01:09,900 --> 00:01:15,700
Today, I am talking about seven life hacks for physician scientists to grow their careers.

17
00:01:15,700 --> 00:01:20,580
Yes, seven life hacks for physician scientists to grow their careers.

18
00:01:20,580 --> 00:01:24,960
And I'm excited to bring you this episode because, wow, we all need life hacks.

19
00:01:24,960 --> 00:01:26,780
We absolutely do.

20
00:01:26,780 --> 00:01:31,300
One of the things I realized recently is I read a book and it was such a great book.

21
00:01:31,300 --> 00:01:35,060
And I remember thinking, hmm, I have this mentor.

22
00:01:35,060 --> 00:01:37,700
He doesn't even know he's my mentor.

23
00:01:37,700 --> 00:01:40,100
He's my mentor from a distance.

24
00:01:40,100 --> 00:01:41,900
And I listened to his talks.

25
00:01:41,900 --> 00:01:43,260
He's given so many talks.

26
00:01:43,260 --> 00:01:46,520
And so I literally binge this person.

27
00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:50,780
And one of the things that he does that's so awesome is that he will just say, you should

28
00:01:50,780 --> 00:01:52,220
read this book.

29
00:01:52,220 --> 00:01:56,100
And he reads a lot of books, but he doesn't recommend all the books.

30
00:01:56,100 --> 00:01:59,180
And so when he says, you should read this book, I've been just going out and getting

31
00:01:59,180 --> 00:02:00,940
the books and reading them.

32
00:02:00,940 --> 00:02:05,100
And what I realized is that his advice is so high quality.

33
00:02:05,100 --> 00:02:06,940
Oh my goodness.

34
00:02:06,940 --> 00:02:08,180
And here's the thing.

35
00:02:08,180 --> 00:02:12,980
In general, right now, I'm in a busy phase in my life where I mostly listen to audiobooks.

36
00:02:12,980 --> 00:02:16,260
And so some of these older books are not available as audiobooks.

37
00:02:16,260 --> 00:02:21,020
And so it takes a lot of time, or at least investment, to sit down and read them.

38
00:02:21,020 --> 00:02:25,540
But these have been such high quality reads that I definitely have been taking the time

39
00:02:25,540 --> 00:02:26,860
to read.

40
00:02:26,860 --> 00:02:34,500
And anyway, I share all that to say that when somebody is someone you know, you like, and

41
00:02:34,500 --> 00:02:40,740
you trust them, when they make a recommendation and you take it seriously, you win.

42
00:02:40,740 --> 00:02:43,780
And so this person probably read like maybe 50 books.

43
00:02:43,780 --> 00:02:46,940
And then out of the 50, he's like, you should read these 10.

44
00:02:46,940 --> 00:02:51,620
That saves me from reading 50 books that may not necessarily give me benefit and just focusing

45
00:02:51,620 --> 00:02:53,380
on the 10 high yield books.

46
00:02:53,380 --> 00:02:57,060
And I remember thinking, I was like, oh, this is such a great life hack.

47
00:02:57,060 --> 00:03:02,060
I need to come and share with my audience about life hacks that we can use as physician scientists.

48
00:03:02,060 --> 00:03:06,260
Now one example that may hit a little bit closer to home is have you ever watched a

49
00:03:06,260 --> 00:03:11,580
terrible movie and you just after three hours of watching, you know, because you kept investing

50
00:03:11,580 --> 00:03:14,540
because you know, you didn't want to lose out on the time you already invested because

51
00:03:14,540 --> 00:03:17,420
you're like, surely this movie is going to get better.

52
00:03:17,420 --> 00:03:18,420
Surely it's going to get better.

53
00:03:18,420 --> 00:03:20,980
And then three hours in, you're like, okay, I've got to wait till the end because I bet

54
00:03:20,980 --> 00:03:22,700
the end is going to make this all worth it.

55
00:03:22,700 --> 00:03:25,540
Then you get to the end and no, it's not worth it.

56
00:03:25,540 --> 00:03:26,540
Absolutely.

57
00:03:26,540 --> 00:03:29,820
It was a waste of your time, including the commute to get to movie theater.

58
00:03:29,820 --> 00:03:30,820
Yeah.

59
00:03:30,820 --> 00:03:35,100
So you wish that somebody had told you beforehand that it was going to suck so that you wouldn't

60
00:03:35,100 --> 00:03:37,020
have invested any time.

61
00:03:37,020 --> 00:03:39,020
And that's what life hacks do for you.

62
00:03:39,020 --> 00:03:40,220
They help you.

63
00:03:40,220 --> 00:03:44,740
They keep you from wasting any time and they help you to make the most out of your investment.

64
00:03:44,740 --> 00:03:48,860
So I'm sharing seven life hacks to enhance your career as a physician scientist.

65
00:03:48,860 --> 00:03:51,740
And these are not the only life hacks that exist.

66
00:03:51,740 --> 00:03:54,020
These are not an exclusive list.

67
00:03:54,020 --> 00:03:58,780
And I will say that I had an idea of what I wanted to share with you and chat GPT helped

68
00:03:58,780 --> 00:03:59,780
me out a little bit.

69
00:03:59,780 --> 00:04:02,180
So these are not a hundred percent original.

70
00:04:02,180 --> 00:04:04,740
So any full disclosure.

71
00:04:04,740 --> 00:04:05,740
Okay.

72
00:04:05,740 --> 00:04:11,100
So the very first one I want to share, and this is one that's very, very, very well known

73
00:04:11,100 --> 00:04:14,100
is you've got to leverage your mentorship networks.

74
00:04:14,100 --> 00:04:15,100
Okay.

75
00:04:15,100 --> 00:04:20,380
Now, one thing I didn't say, I need you to hear, but I didn't say leverage your mentor.

76
00:04:20,380 --> 00:04:21,380
Okay.

77
00:04:21,380 --> 00:04:27,580
Because if you are a savvy physician scientist growing in many areas of your life and growing

78
00:04:27,580 --> 00:04:32,180
in all aspects of your career, you should have more than one mentor.

79
00:04:32,180 --> 00:04:36,100
And in fact, the reality is you do have more than one mentor.

80
00:04:36,100 --> 00:04:40,940
The question is, have you opened your eyes to see who those mentors are?

81
00:04:40,940 --> 00:04:46,100
You not only have mentors, but you also have networks of mentors.

82
00:04:46,100 --> 00:04:47,100
Yes.

83
00:04:47,100 --> 00:04:48,980
Because you don't only have one mentor in one area.

84
00:04:48,980 --> 00:04:50,660
You have a couple of them.

85
00:04:50,660 --> 00:04:53,940
And some mentors actually span across different areas.

86
00:04:53,940 --> 00:04:56,740
For example, you have a great research mentor.

87
00:04:56,740 --> 00:04:59,900
That person is great at mentoring in research.

88
00:04:59,900 --> 00:05:04,540
But when it comes to life decisions, you're like, dude, your family doesn't see you.

89
00:05:04,540 --> 00:05:07,220
And I hear you're about to go into your fourth divorce.

90
00:05:07,220 --> 00:05:09,140
Something is not right in that area.

91
00:05:09,140 --> 00:05:12,740
I don't want mentoring from you in relationships because I think you're having challenges,

92
00:05:12,740 --> 00:05:15,880
but you are a super awesome research mentor.

93
00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:17,820
And let's keep your research mentoring.

94
00:05:17,820 --> 00:05:22,660
And I also hear that you've done well as far as growing your career and achieving the goal

95
00:05:22,660 --> 00:05:23,660
of full professor.

96
00:05:23,660 --> 00:05:24,660
Great.

97
00:05:24,660 --> 00:05:27,420
I want mentoring on how to advance my career.

98
00:05:27,420 --> 00:05:32,820
So each mentor has something to offer you and no mentor is great in all areas.

99
00:05:32,820 --> 00:05:38,300
But you also have not just one mentor who can speak to your need in one area.

100
00:05:38,300 --> 00:05:40,000
You have multiple.

101
00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:44,720
So you may have one research mentor that's excellent in biostatistics, but who's the

102
00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:47,460
research mentor that's helpful in health services?

103
00:05:47,460 --> 00:05:51,640
And who's the research mentor that may be helping you do your translational work?

104
00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:54,500
So you have mentors.

105
00:05:54,500 --> 00:05:59,220
I would like if you would please say after me, I have mentors.

106
00:05:59,220 --> 00:06:01,100
No, I'm not stuck.

107
00:06:01,100 --> 00:06:02,540
No, I don't have.

108
00:06:02,540 --> 00:06:05,340
No, I am not someone who has no mentors.

109
00:06:05,340 --> 00:06:07,100
I have mentors.

110
00:06:07,100 --> 00:06:08,100
And that's true.

111
00:06:08,100 --> 00:06:10,060
You don't just have net mentors.

112
00:06:10,060 --> 00:06:12,700
You have networks of mentors.

113
00:06:12,700 --> 00:06:16,580
You succeed because you leverage the mentoring that you need.

114
00:06:16,580 --> 00:06:23,260
Again, definitely keep a primary research mentor, but recognize that you've got a whole

115
00:06:23,260 --> 00:06:28,460
network of people who are able to bring to bear their expertise to support you as you

116
00:06:28,460 --> 00:06:29,940
have need.

117
00:06:29,940 --> 00:06:34,860
Leverage your network because they have already gone the distance and they can help you take

118
00:06:34,860 --> 00:06:37,620
the shortcuts so that you can get further than they got.

119
00:06:37,620 --> 00:06:38,620
Okay.

120
00:06:38,620 --> 00:06:39,620
Leverage your mentoring networks.

121
00:06:39,620 --> 00:06:43,980
Number two, again, this is not novel.

122
00:06:43,980 --> 00:06:44,980
Focus on a niche.

123
00:06:44,980 --> 00:06:46,980
Can I say that again?

124
00:06:46,980 --> 00:06:47,980
Yes.

125
00:06:47,980 --> 00:06:48,980
Focus on a niche.

126
00:06:48,980 --> 00:06:51,740
And actually, maybe I'm saying that out loud for myself because it took me a long time

127
00:06:51,740 --> 00:06:53,900
to realize that this was necessary.

128
00:06:53,900 --> 00:06:56,780
And it took me a long time to narrow the niche down specifically.

129
00:06:56,780 --> 00:07:02,500
And to be honest, I am still in the process of narrowing the niche down further because,

130
00:07:02,500 --> 00:07:05,420
wow, there is so much to know.

131
00:07:05,420 --> 00:07:10,820
If you literally just take a drill and just drill downwards into the earth, let's just

132
00:07:10,820 --> 00:07:16,060
say you could drill downwards without extra work, without having to excavate, you would

133
00:07:16,060 --> 00:07:17,060
go very far.

134
00:07:17,060 --> 00:07:21,500
And then you would discover all sorts of things, all sorts of organisms that live deep under

135
00:07:21,500 --> 00:07:24,040
the earth that we don't see routinely.

136
00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:30,140
You would dig far enough to maybe uncover some fault lines that may suggest that volcanic

137
00:07:30,140 --> 00:07:32,220
activity is in the offing.

138
00:07:32,220 --> 00:07:39,100
Or you might find out that, wow, you get all the way to drill down to molten magma in the

139
00:07:39,100 --> 00:07:40,100
core of the earth.

140
00:07:40,100 --> 00:07:46,460
So my point, not to expose how much geological information I don't have, but my point is

141
00:07:46,460 --> 00:07:48,900
that the further you dig, the more you find.

142
00:07:48,900 --> 00:07:56,300
And if you're just going in a narrow direction, if you spread your area, gosh, there's so

143
00:07:56,300 --> 00:07:57,300
much more.

144
00:07:57,300 --> 00:07:59,260
And it's the same in research.

145
00:07:59,260 --> 00:08:04,620
There is so much in your little narrow field to become the master of, the expert of.

146
00:08:04,620 --> 00:08:07,140
And there's so much to discover.

147
00:08:07,140 --> 00:08:12,380
And so the more that you can focus, the more expert you become.

148
00:08:12,380 --> 00:08:14,800
And it's not just about becoming an expert.

149
00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:23,980
It's also about the fact that you are able to leverage every effort to the next effort.

150
00:08:23,980 --> 00:08:27,020
What I'm saying is, for example, I write a grant.

151
00:08:27,020 --> 00:08:28,020
My area is TTP.

152
00:08:28,020 --> 00:08:34,260
I write a grant about TTP in looking at patient reported outcomes.

153
00:08:34,260 --> 00:08:38,700
The next grant I write about TTP, maybe I will look at patient reported outcome measures

154
00:08:38,700 --> 00:08:41,020
as it relates to fatigue.

155
00:08:41,020 --> 00:08:42,020
Okay.

156
00:08:42,020 --> 00:08:45,220
So I've already done a ton of work thinking about TTP.

157
00:08:45,220 --> 00:08:48,820
I've done a lot of writing related to patient reported outcome measures.

158
00:08:48,820 --> 00:08:54,060
This next grant is different because now I'm focused on a different area of TTP patient

159
00:08:54,060 --> 00:08:59,500
reported outcome measures, but I can use all the information that I gathered from the last

160
00:08:59,500 --> 00:09:02,220
grant I was writing and apply it to this grant.

161
00:09:02,220 --> 00:09:03,220
So guess what?

162
00:09:03,220 --> 00:09:08,780
It takes me a shorter period of time to write this grant and I am the expert so I can really

163
00:09:08,780 --> 00:09:10,460
write well, right?

164
00:09:10,460 --> 00:09:15,820
So you're able to bring all that information to bear to move you forward in a way that

165
00:09:15,820 --> 00:09:18,460
you weren't able to move forward before.

166
00:09:18,460 --> 00:09:20,020
It is so helpful.

167
00:09:20,020 --> 00:09:26,180
Now contrast that to where I maybe wrote a grant on TTP and then someone else was like,

168
00:09:26,180 --> 00:09:29,140
hey, I really am interested in this lung cancer question.

169
00:09:29,140 --> 00:09:30,300
Would you come answer it with me?

170
00:09:30,300 --> 00:09:31,740
And I'm like, oh, sure.

171
00:09:31,740 --> 00:09:32,740
Okay.

172
00:09:32,740 --> 00:09:36,540
So now I've left everything, every gain I've made in TTP and I go answer the question of

173
00:09:36,540 --> 00:09:37,540
lung cancer.

174
00:09:37,540 --> 00:09:38,540
Wow.

175
00:09:38,540 --> 00:09:40,460
So I can start all over from scratch.

176
00:09:40,460 --> 00:09:43,880
And then if after that project doesn't pan out, I'm like, well, somebody else says over

177
00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:46,300
here that they're doing DVT prophylaxis.

178
00:09:46,300 --> 00:09:47,300
Oh yeah.

179
00:09:47,300 --> 00:09:48,300
In cancer.

180
00:09:48,300 --> 00:09:51,020
I could totally do that because I was a lung cancer before.

181
00:09:51,020 --> 00:09:52,020
Now I go over here.

182
00:09:52,020 --> 00:09:54,540
Well, none of the stuff I did over here translates.

183
00:09:54,540 --> 00:09:56,540
Now I have two sets of projects.

184
00:09:56,540 --> 00:10:01,260
A lot of work was invested, but now they don't translate forward to the next project.

185
00:10:01,260 --> 00:10:07,540
And so that's the diffuse energy that we have when we're spread too thin across different

186
00:10:07,540 --> 00:10:08,540
areas of expertise.

187
00:10:08,540 --> 00:10:15,140
But when we niche down, when we focus, we can really become masters and our time counts

188
00:10:15,140 --> 00:10:16,140
for more.

189
00:10:16,140 --> 00:10:22,540
The investment of time always leans forward to the next application or the next project

190
00:10:22,540 --> 00:10:24,480
or the next manuscript.

191
00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:31,300
So if you take nothing home from all the things we say today, you want to develop your niche.

192
00:10:31,300 --> 00:10:32,300
Okay.

193
00:10:32,300 --> 00:10:39,020
Number three is prioritizing grant writing early, prioritize grant writing early.

194
00:10:39,020 --> 00:10:40,900
Why does this matter?

195
00:10:40,900 --> 00:10:43,740
Because you know, no business runs without money.

196
00:10:43,740 --> 00:10:45,180
It just doesn't happen.

197
00:10:45,180 --> 00:10:50,140
And if you're a clinician moving forward in research, you recognize that you need money

198
00:10:50,140 --> 00:10:54,460
so that you can fund the part of your work that's not clinical.

199
00:10:54,460 --> 00:10:59,020
Because as long as you live, you will always be able to do the clinical work and it will

200
00:10:59,020 --> 00:11:02,620
always take up a lot of time because that's what clinical work does.

201
00:11:02,620 --> 00:11:06,260
If you're really going to have the time that's carved out so that you can be protected to

202
00:11:06,260 --> 00:11:09,740
do research, you do need funding to help you do that.

203
00:11:09,740 --> 00:11:13,460
And congratulations if you're in the place where someone's supporting you and they're

204
00:11:13,460 --> 00:11:16,780
like for the next period of a couple of years, we're just going to fund you.

205
00:11:16,780 --> 00:11:20,580
We're trusting that at the end of the season, you're going to be able to do well.

206
00:11:20,580 --> 00:11:26,780
Well, you want to have grants lined up to be able to manage your time or to be able

207
00:11:26,780 --> 00:11:30,620
to allow you to continue to support your time.

208
00:11:30,620 --> 00:11:34,380
Now I want to say this is not to where you get nervous and you're like, oh my gosh, if

209
00:11:34,380 --> 00:11:38,100
I don't write grants and get funded, I'm not going to be able to succeed.

210
00:11:38,100 --> 00:11:40,300
I just want to say you're a physician.

211
00:11:40,300 --> 00:11:47,120
You are somebody who knows how to succeed and you succeeded in the most unlikely circumstances.

212
00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:53,020
And so grant writing is a skill and like any skill, you can grow in it.

213
00:11:53,020 --> 00:11:58,740
Now it may take you time to build this skill, but put in your 10,000 hours if you believe

214
00:11:58,740 --> 00:12:05,780
in the 10,000 hours lore, but put in the time, put in the strategic investment, get feedback

215
00:12:05,780 --> 00:12:08,580
and grow your skill.

216
00:12:08,580 --> 00:12:14,620
Start with a small grant, go to the next small grant, build over time to have bigger grants,

217
00:12:14,620 --> 00:12:17,120
build over time to involve collaborators.

218
00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:19,320
You can grow the skill of grant writing.

219
00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:23,000
The sooner you start, the more you build skill over time.

220
00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:25,260
You can do it.

221
00:12:25,260 --> 00:12:26,260
It is hard.

222
00:12:26,260 --> 00:12:27,260
I was going to say it's not hard.

223
00:12:27,260 --> 00:12:30,500
It can be hard, but you know, when you started walking, that was hard too.

224
00:12:30,500 --> 00:12:34,620
And you fell a few times and you eventually mastered walking.

225
00:12:34,620 --> 00:12:36,680
And so you did it.

226
00:12:36,680 --> 00:12:39,620
You've been doing it and you can continue to do it.

227
00:12:39,620 --> 00:12:42,740
So prioritize grant writing early.

228
00:12:42,740 --> 00:12:45,380
Number four, collaborate across disciplines.

229
00:12:45,380 --> 00:12:46,380
Okay.

230
00:12:46,380 --> 00:12:49,540
I've learned that, oh, it took me so long to figure out and now I wish I had learned

231
00:12:49,540 --> 00:12:51,540
it so long ago.

232
00:12:51,540 --> 00:12:54,620
When we as clinicians are trying to do research, do you know what we do?

233
00:12:54,620 --> 00:12:55,620
We talk to other clinicians.

234
00:12:55,620 --> 00:12:57,620
We're like, hey, I'm doing this research project.

235
00:12:57,620 --> 00:12:58,620
Will you help me?

236
00:12:58,620 --> 00:12:59,620
And guess what we have?

237
00:12:59,620 --> 00:13:01,620
We have overlap of expertise.

238
00:13:01,620 --> 00:13:04,660
You may be like, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, because I'm a hematologist and they're an

239
00:13:04,660 --> 00:13:05,660
endocrinologist.

240
00:13:05,660 --> 00:13:06,660
Great.

241
00:13:06,660 --> 00:13:10,140
You're moving a little bit, but that's still very, I mean, you went to med school, you

242
00:13:10,140 --> 00:13:11,140
did residency.

243
00:13:11,140 --> 00:13:16,300
You can answer some questions about endocrinology if that's the kind of expertise that you need.

244
00:13:16,300 --> 00:13:19,780
And if you're a hematologist needing to work with an endocrinologist, then the question

245
00:13:19,780 --> 00:13:24,180
is are you sufficiently moving in the area of your niche?

246
00:13:24,180 --> 00:13:27,540
Are you spread too thin?

247
00:13:27,540 --> 00:13:28,980
But anyway, whatever.

248
00:13:28,980 --> 00:13:30,860
If you make it work, you can make it work.

249
00:13:30,860 --> 00:13:37,540
However, that does not give you the same kind of mileage as it does if, let's say, you collaborate

250
00:13:37,540 --> 00:13:39,340
with a qualitative expert.

251
00:13:39,340 --> 00:13:44,860
For example, the example I gave earlier about doing a project in TTP patient reported outcome

252
00:13:44,860 --> 00:13:48,140
measures, I collaborate with a qualitative expert.

253
00:13:48,140 --> 00:13:52,740
I don't have any qualitative expertise, but this person has qualitative expertise.

254
00:13:52,740 --> 00:13:59,140
So now I can be my dynamic clinical expertise in TTP and they bring their dynamic expertise

255
00:13:59,140 --> 00:14:02,940
and qualitative research and bam, dynamite.

256
00:14:02,940 --> 00:14:05,380
What synergy occurs?

257
00:14:05,380 --> 00:14:06,580
And okay, let's take it.

258
00:14:06,580 --> 00:14:07,980
Now let's triple that.

259
00:14:07,980 --> 00:14:11,980
Let's now say, okay, well, you have expertise in qualitative methods.

260
00:14:11,980 --> 00:14:15,060
Now let's go find someone who has an expertise in measurement.

261
00:14:15,060 --> 00:14:16,260
Wow.

262
00:14:16,260 --> 00:14:18,780
All of a sudden we have a dynamite combination.

263
00:14:18,780 --> 00:14:24,540
We can write some amazing grants with those three viewpoints all focused on one niche

264
00:14:24,540 --> 00:14:25,540
area.

265
00:14:25,540 --> 00:14:27,540
It is so, so awesome.

266
00:14:27,540 --> 00:14:33,020
And the best part is that there's no fighting.

267
00:14:33,020 --> 00:14:37,060
There's no, wait a minute, I'm a clinician here and this is the way I practice and the

268
00:14:37,060 --> 00:14:42,340
qualitative expert can't be like, well, you know, this is the way I do qualitative things.

269
00:14:42,340 --> 00:14:48,580
You all own your expertise and there doesn't have to be any fighting or hierarchical need,

270
00:14:48,580 --> 00:14:49,580
right?

271
00:14:49,580 --> 00:14:54,580
There doesn't need to be any of that because all of you can be masters of your own individual

272
00:14:54,580 --> 00:14:55,980
domains.

273
00:14:55,980 --> 00:15:00,780
If you are not leveraging collaborations in your research career, you are working too

274
00:15:00,780 --> 00:15:01,780
hard.

275
00:15:01,780 --> 00:15:06,860
Naturally, you'll always be working hard, but you're working and letting some of your

276
00:15:06,860 --> 00:15:09,060
energy go to waste.

277
00:15:09,060 --> 00:15:14,900
When you leverage collaborations, you can focus in the area of your expertise.

278
00:15:14,900 --> 00:15:18,420
You can really, really get a lot of mileage out of that.

279
00:15:18,420 --> 00:15:22,860
So do not neglect building collaborations into your work.

280
00:15:22,860 --> 00:15:25,900
And you might be like, but nobody wants to collaborate with me.

281
00:15:25,900 --> 00:15:28,660
All the collaborators are working with the senior mentors.

282
00:15:28,660 --> 00:15:29,980
They are.

283
00:15:29,980 --> 00:15:32,060
So go find someone who's on your levels.

284
00:15:32,060 --> 00:15:34,540
Find someone who's just starting out if you're just starting out.

285
00:15:34,540 --> 00:15:39,180
Or maybe who's mid-career if you're mid-career and say, hey, this is what I want to do.

286
00:15:39,180 --> 00:15:42,300
And I see that your interests may overlap in this area.

287
00:15:42,300 --> 00:15:43,300
Can we work together?

288
00:15:43,300 --> 00:15:48,340
And at the end of the day, people love working with people who have similar interests where

289
00:15:48,340 --> 00:15:49,340
they're sure gain.

290
00:15:49,340 --> 00:15:51,340
It's like, okay, we're going to write this paper.

291
00:15:51,340 --> 00:15:54,140
I'm going to be the senior author on the clinical focus paper.

292
00:15:54,140 --> 00:15:56,940
You be the senior author on the qualitative focus paper.

293
00:15:56,940 --> 00:15:57,940
Boom.

294
00:15:57,940 --> 00:15:58,940
Excellent.

295
00:15:58,940 --> 00:16:01,820
Excellent benefits to the collaboration.

296
00:16:01,820 --> 00:16:04,660
So really leverage collaborations.

297
00:16:04,660 --> 00:16:06,500
They will change your experience.

298
00:16:06,500 --> 00:16:07,500
All right.

299
00:16:07,500 --> 00:16:09,460
Number five, you got to use technology.

300
00:16:09,460 --> 00:16:12,740
You got to streamline your research with technology.

301
00:16:12,740 --> 00:16:18,220
Now that goes without saying because we're a very technologically focused group in general.

302
00:16:18,220 --> 00:16:21,340
Like I'm talking to people who are early career, mid-career.

303
00:16:21,340 --> 00:16:26,580
And I would say that technology is not a challenge for us in general.

304
00:16:26,580 --> 00:16:29,060
However, it keeps advancing.

305
00:16:29,060 --> 00:16:35,260
For example, if you're someone who's not utilizing or leveraging the power of large language

306
00:16:35,260 --> 00:16:38,260
models like chat GPT, you should think again.

307
00:16:38,260 --> 00:16:42,020
I had a conversation with a colleague not too long ago who was trying to write, they

308
00:16:42,020 --> 00:16:45,100
were trying to write a blurb for something really important.

309
00:16:45,100 --> 00:16:46,860
And they were like, I want your input.

310
00:16:46,860 --> 00:16:48,940
I'm like, great, but have you asked chat GPT?

311
00:16:48,940 --> 00:16:50,140
And they're like, what?

312
00:16:50,140 --> 00:16:55,580
I said, well, just put the information that you've written into chat GPT and ask chat

313
00:16:55,580 --> 00:16:59,700
GPT to develop in the certain way that you want and then see what you think.

314
00:16:59,700 --> 00:17:05,020
Now we've got to be ethical about our use of AI and we've got to be explicit about when

315
00:17:05,020 --> 00:17:06,580
we use it.

316
00:17:06,580 --> 00:17:11,020
But it's important for us not to bury our heads in the sand and say, well, there's no

317
00:17:11,020 --> 00:17:12,420
way I'm using this technology.

318
00:17:12,420 --> 00:17:17,580
We got to find out and we got to apply it so we can get more mileage out of the work

319
00:17:17,580 --> 00:17:19,140
that we're already doing.

320
00:17:19,140 --> 00:17:21,500
So leverage technology.

321
00:17:21,500 --> 00:17:23,780
Don't get left behind.

322
00:17:23,780 --> 00:17:28,900
Number six is to make sure that you optimize your research time.

323
00:17:28,900 --> 00:17:29,900
Okay.

324
00:17:29,900 --> 00:17:31,020
Optimize your research time.

325
00:17:31,020 --> 00:17:34,900
We are clinicians and we are good at clinical work.

326
00:17:34,900 --> 00:17:35,900
We're excellent.

327
00:17:35,900 --> 00:17:37,660
Like, you know, we're building skill and research.

328
00:17:37,660 --> 00:17:38,660
That's very hard.

329
00:17:38,660 --> 00:17:43,740
When it comes to clinical work, we did all the skill building over 10 years or more of

330
00:17:43,740 --> 00:17:45,980
training and it's not hard anymore.

331
00:17:45,980 --> 00:17:49,420
It's so easy to fall into the rut of just doing the clinical things because they're

332
00:17:49,420 --> 00:17:50,420
so familiar.

333
00:17:50,420 --> 00:17:57,620
And to be honest, you don't have to invest too much energy to soar, to do really well.

334
00:17:57,620 --> 00:18:02,860
But if you are not careful, clinical work will overwhelm you and then you won't be able

335
00:18:02,860 --> 00:18:04,700
to get your research done.

336
00:18:04,700 --> 00:18:06,180
And your research does matter.

337
00:18:06,180 --> 00:18:07,260
It is important.

338
00:18:07,260 --> 00:18:10,960
It's a skill that you haven't built as well as your clinical skill.

339
00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:11,980
So you do need time.

340
00:18:11,980 --> 00:18:13,420
You do need to invest.

341
00:18:13,420 --> 00:18:19,140
You need to optimize your clinical time, shrink that so that you can increase your research

342
00:18:19,140 --> 00:18:20,140
time.

343
00:18:20,140 --> 00:18:21,140
How do you do that?

344
00:18:21,140 --> 00:18:25,460
You're like, well, I'm a clinician and no one's supporting me to do research.

345
00:18:25,460 --> 00:18:29,220
Well, let's look at the time you do have.

346
00:18:29,220 --> 00:18:34,740
Let's focus not on what you don't have, but what you do have and then ask ourselves, how

347
00:18:34,740 --> 00:18:37,180
do we maximize the time we have?

348
00:18:37,180 --> 00:18:41,800
Okay, I know I'm in clinic every day of the week, but you're not in clinic every morning.

349
00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:48,660
How can you take 30 minutes and use that time to move research forward and to build productivity

350
00:18:48,660 --> 00:18:52,500
until you can get the blocks of time that you're looking for?

351
00:18:52,500 --> 00:18:54,800
Don't wait until you have large blocks of time.

352
00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:58,660
How do you maximize the little time that you have right now?

353
00:18:58,660 --> 00:19:03,100
And the more you focus on and optimize the little time you have right now, you are able

354
00:19:03,100 --> 00:19:05,360
to really maximize that time.

355
00:19:05,360 --> 00:19:11,140
So don't say you don't have time to build your research and optimize your research career.

356
00:19:11,140 --> 00:19:16,100
You want to make sure that you optimize your time and look for ways to shrink the clinical

357
00:19:16,100 --> 00:19:20,620
time or at least delegate things that are delegatable so that you can really build your

358
00:19:20,620 --> 00:19:23,340
research career and grow in these skills.

359
00:19:23,340 --> 00:19:27,780
Eventually, once you become a master in your research skills, you can go back and do anything

360
00:19:27,780 --> 00:19:28,780
you want.

361
00:19:28,780 --> 00:19:33,020
But while you're building, you really do need to focus on doing that work so that you get

362
00:19:33,020 --> 00:19:38,900
really good at it and so that you can mentor the next generation of scientists as well.

363
00:19:38,900 --> 00:19:39,900
Okay.

364
00:19:39,900 --> 00:19:44,220
Number seven, you got to be strategic about your self-promotion.

365
00:19:44,220 --> 00:19:48,140
Okay.

366
00:19:48,140 --> 00:19:52,060
It's really nice to have sponsors and mentors who, you know, they don't want to go to the

367
00:19:52,060 --> 00:19:55,420
talk and so they're like, hey, this is the person who can help you do it.

368
00:19:55,420 --> 00:19:56,420
And that's great.

369
00:19:56,420 --> 00:19:58,560
And at some point in your life, you're going to have a lot of that.

370
00:19:58,560 --> 00:20:03,260
But even if you don't, even if there's no mentor standing to give you the things that

371
00:20:03,260 --> 00:20:08,340
they don't want but that are really instrumental to you, how can you put yourself in positions

372
00:20:08,340 --> 00:20:14,860
where you get to be able to be given the talk with or without your mentor's intervention?

373
00:20:14,860 --> 00:20:19,420
If you've developed a research niche, you've published even one or two things.

374
00:20:19,420 --> 00:20:22,180
Let's just say you've published only one thing or maybe you haven't even published.

375
00:20:22,180 --> 00:20:23,980
You're like, I'm just getting started.

376
00:20:23,980 --> 00:20:30,500
Well, where can you go to give a talk that allows you to establish yourself as the expert?

377
00:20:30,500 --> 00:20:34,940
Yes, you're maybe not the expert by just giving one talk, but you're more of an expert than

378
00:20:34,940 --> 00:20:39,220
many other people who didn't do the work to be able to give that talk.

379
00:20:39,220 --> 00:20:43,060
So once you've done it once and if you're like, well, how can I even give the first

380
00:20:43,060 --> 00:20:44,060
talk?

381
00:20:44,060 --> 00:20:45,060
No one's inviting me.

382
00:20:45,060 --> 00:20:47,540
Well, if no one's inviting you, how about you invite yourself?

383
00:20:47,540 --> 00:20:51,620
How about you call your long lost colleague or maybe your best friend from med school

384
00:20:51,620 --> 00:20:54,140
and say, hey, you're over at this institution.

385
00:20:54,140 --> 00:20:55,340
I'm over here.

386
00:20:55,340 --> 00:20:58,900
Can you invite me to come give a talk to your med students?

387
00:20:58,900 --> 00:21:04,020
And they're like, well, I don't really have money for you to come over, but sure, come

388
00:21:04,020 --> 00:21:05,020
talk to the med students.

389
00:21:05,020 --> 00:21:11,740
They will gather your research team and allow me to give a talk, give a talk virtually and

390
00:21:11,740 --> 00:21:13,580
give them a great talk.

391
00:21:13,580 --> 00:21:18,060
And then you get to put in your CV that you got an invitation from another institution

392
00:21:18,060 --> 00:21:20,940
and you gave a talk.

393
00:21:20,940 --> 00:21:24,700
It's not where you want to be long term, but it's a great place to start.

394
00:21:24,700 --> 00:21:31,500
And then all of a sudden, you are showing up as a person who gives a talk in X area.

395
00:21:31,500 --> 00:21:35,700
And then you can ask for more invitations and then other people can start to invite

396
00:21:35,700 --> 00:21:36,940
you more.

397
00:21:36,940 --> 00:21:41,020
And then that's how you really start to build your networks.

398
00:21:41,020 --> 00:21:44,420
So engage in strategic self-promotion.

399
00:21:44,420 --> 00:21:47,860
Don't say no one's promoting me, promote yourself.

400
00:21:47,860 --> 00:21:48,860
And it's not easy.

401
00:21:48,860 --> 00:21:50,900
I'm not saying it's easy again.

402
00:21:50,900 --> 00:21:53,940
These are skills that we're building that we didn't have before.

403
00:21:53,940 --> 00:21:57,140
In our clinical training, we just put our heads down, we just work hard.

404
00:21:57,140 --> 00:22:00,620
And then people are like, wow, she's such a hard worker or he's such an amazing worker.

405
00:22:00,620 --> 00:22:04,260
But that's not how it happens in terms of getting known for your research.

406
00:22:04,260 --> 00:22:06,100
And it's so important for promotion.

407
00:22:06,100 --> 00:22:08,540
It's so important for advancement in the academy.

408
00:22:08,540 --> 00:22:11,100
You can't wait for someone to discover you.

409
00:22:11,100 --> 00:22:12,740
It's time to discover yourself.

410
00:22:12,740 --> 00:22:13,740
Okay.

411
00:22:13,740 --> 00:22:18,020
Those are seven points that I talked about, seven life hacks to grow your career as a

412
00:22:18,020 --> 00:22:19,500
physician scientist.

413
00:22:19,500 --> 00:22:22,340
Number one, leverage your mentorship networks.

414
00:22:22,340 --> 00:22:24,900
Number two, focus on your niche.

415
00:22:24,900 --> 00:22:27,660
Number three, prioritize grant writing early.

416
00:22:27,660 --> 00:22:30,460
Number four, collaborate across disciplines.

417
00:22:30,460 --> 00:22:33,380
Number five, streamline your research with technology.

418
00:22:33,380 --> 00:22:36,420
Number six, make sure you optimize your research time.

419
00:22:36,420 --> 00:22:39,660
And number seven, be strategic about your self-promotion.

420
00:22:39,660 --> 00:22:40,660
All right.

421
00:22:40,660 --> 00:22:42,900
It's been such a pleasure to talk with you today.

422
00:22:42,900 --> 00:22:46,500
As always, if you're looking for a coach, if you're a clinician who wants to make that

423
00:22:46,500 --> 00:22:50,060
transition to research, but you're struggling, I would love to be your coach.

424
00:22:50,060 --> 00:22:51,060
Reach out to me on LinkedIn.

425
00:22:51,060 --> 00:22:55,980
I would love to talk to you and definitely share this episode with someone else.

426
00:22:55,980 --> 00:22:56,980
All right.

427
00:22:56,980 --> 00:22:58,420
Enjoy the rest of your day.

428
00:22:58,420 --> 00:22:59,980
I look forward to talking with you again.

429
00:22:59,980 --> 00:23:02,980
See you next time on the Clinician Researcher Podcast.

430
00:23:02,980 --> 00:23:10,780
Thank you for listening.

431
00:23:10,780 --> 00:23:16,140
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Clinician Researcher Podcast, where academic

432
00:23:16,140 --> 00:23:21,540
clinicians learn the skills to build their own research program, whether or not they

433
00:23:21,540 --> 00:23:22,940
have a mentor.

434
00:23:22,940 --> 00:23:29,020
If you found the information in this episode to be helpful, don't keep it all to yourself.

435
00:23:29,020 --> 00:23:30,780
Someone else needs to hear it.

436
00:23:30,780 --> 00:23:34,820
So take a minute right now and share it.

437
00:23:34,820 --> 00:23:40,300
As you share this episode, you become part of our mission to help launch a new generation

438
00:23:40,300 --> 00:24:00,340
of clinician researchers who make transformative discoveries that change the way we do healthcare.