Lessons from 30 Years in Academic Medicine

Rebecca A. Silliman, MD, PhD

Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology

Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health

,

Disclosures

None

Objectives

• To enhance your appreciation of the centrality of personal growth

• To encourage intentional thinking about your career, but also nimbleness

• To promote mindfulness about your journey

My Career Path

• Brown University:6 ½ years - assistant professor

• Tufts University:3 ¾ years - assistant, associate professor

• Boston University:19 ¾ years - associate, professor, section chief

Objective #1

To enhance your appreciation of the centrality of personal

growth

Learn from Your Patients

• Don’t get stuck

• Recognize that there are seasons to life

Get to Know Yourself

• Learn your strengths and use them

• Don’t aspire to be someone that you are not (but keep growing)

Learn about People

• Learn what motivates them

• Choose to work with those who share your values

• Read Quiet

Objective #2

To encourage intentional thinking about your career, but

also nimbleness

Follow Your Heart and Your Passions, but be Nimble

• A role model:Sid Katz

• Sometimes you will be in the right place at the wrong time.

• Sometimes you will be in the right place at the right time.

Learn from Your Mistakes

• Tough environments

• Poor mentors

Look at Other Jobs for the Right Reasons

Right Reasons

Person/environment mismatch

Leadership/policy changes

New opportunities

Personal/family

Wrong Reasons

Job opportunity in which you have no serious interest

Leveraging for pay/status increases

Be Strategic and Efficient

• Don’t apply for grants when the odds are infinitesimal

• Pick journal homes that are the right fit

• Know when and how you work most efficiently

• Manage technology

Objective #3

To promote mindfulness about your journey

Remember That We are Not All Survivors

• Our patients are survivors, but we may not be -

Dennis Jahnigen

• What if you were diagnosed with a glioblastoma today?

What Would You Do?

Take Care of Your Body, Mind, and Soul

Be Generous

• Time

• Talents

• Praise

• Thanks

Summary Points

• Personal growth

• Intentional thinking

• Mindfulness

Thoughts and Questions?(What are these Critters?)

Thank You!