Embracing challenges for your career development

0:00 Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast, where academic clinicians learn the skills to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor. As clinicians, we spend a decade or more as trainees learning to take care of patients. When we finally start our careers, we want to build research programs, but then we find that our years of clinical training did not adequately prepare us to lead our research program. Through no fault of our own, we struggle to find mentors, and when we can't, we quit. However, clinicians hold the keys to the greatest research breakthroughs.

0:40 For this reason, the Clinician Researcher podcast exists to give academic clinicians the tools to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor. Now introducing your host, Toyosi Onwuemene. Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast. I'm your host, Toyosi Onwuemene, and it is so, so exciting. Such a pleasure to be with you today. Thank you so much for tuning in. Today, I'm talking about reasons why you should accept challenges as part of your career development. I'm talking about why you should accept challenges as part of your career development.

1:22 The reason I thought about this episode is that I met a young person today. When I say young person, that means she's like 20 years younger than me, so a little younger than I am. She wanted to go to medical school. Many people want to go to medical school, but one of the things she was saying is that, well, you know, this medical school thing is too hard, so I want to become a physician assistant now. And I smile because sometimes people think that when they're choosing the route of the physician assistant, they're choosing the easier route, and that is not always the case. And at the end of the day, whether you choose the route of being a clinician or being a physician or choose a route of being a physician assistant, you're still going to be pretty challenged.

2:09 And the question really is, and I asked her, what do you really want? And that was the bigger issue, is that she wasn't really sure yet what she wants to do. Because here's the thing, when we look at obstacles and we decide that I'm not moving forward because the obstacle is too big, then it is clear that we don't have a clear understanding of what's on the other side of the obstacle. If we're making choices because of the obstacles rather than because of what's ahead of us, then we're making the wrong choices and we're always going to be stumped because you know what? There will always be an obstacle. You may not see an obstacle right now.

2:49 It may not be before you. Right this moment, you can see the medical school obstacle. It looks so big. But the other obstacle is there. It's just not easily visible. Because in anything that you choose in life, if it is worthwhile, in any way, there will be an obstacle associated with it. In fact, I dare to say there will be several obstacles associated with it. And you don't make choices because of the obstacles. You make choices because of what's beyond the obstacle. You make choices in spite of the obstacles. You make choices without thinking about the obstacles. Now don't get me wrong, obstacles are important. And you do want to prepare yourself to overcome the obstacle.

3:32 But you don't want to look at the obstacle and then make a decision based on the obstacle. You want to understand that what's behind the obstacle is so important that the obstacle doesn't matter. And that's why it's important for us to clarify our whys. So I'm not here necessarily to talk about clarifying our whys today. I am here to talk about the obstacle and why you will always find an obstacle. If you're doing anything worthwhile, you'll find several obstacles. And why you should embrace the obstacle. I'm going to call it a challenge. But think about it as an obstacle course. Why should you embrace the challenge as it comes to your academic career? Now I get this all the time. People who say research is too hard. I don't want to write grants. I don't want to have to publish papers.

4:13 I just want to see patients. As if seeing patients is the easier step. As if it's the easier choice. It's like, yeah, I'm going to see patients because it's the easiest thing in the world. Can I just say that patient care is one of the hardest things that we do as physicians? I know we love seeing patients and we love to help people, but that's not it. If it were it, everybody would be a physician or every physician would stay and not be burned out. There's so much more to being a physician beyond seeing the patient, beyond writing notes, beyond communicating with the providers they send, beyond communicating with insurance companies, beyond advocating for the patient. There's so much and all of it is what comes together to make a physician's job a physician's job.

4:57 The whole idea that you're going to leave grant writing because it's hard and go to clinical work because it's easy is kind of a fallacy. What you're saying is that I've built a certain skill set that I prefer to just continue to build rather than trying to build a new skill set. However, whatever you choose, you're not choosing because it's easier. If there's an illusion that it's easier, you'll find out soon enough that it really is just an illusion. Here are seven reasons where people should accept challenges as part of their career development. The first thing is to enhance your skill. If you as a clinician researcher are saying grant writing is hard, what you're saying is very important.

5:41 What you're not saying is that grant writing is a challenge I can never overcome. You're saying it's a skill I haven't learned yet. And when I do it, I'm not very good and so it feels really hard. And so the challenge is to enhance your skill. The challenge of not being proficient at grant writing or not having what people call grantsmanship. I hate that word. Only because people bring it up when they're trying to tell you that your writing is bad without telling you that how to fix it. They're like, oh, it's grantsmanship. You don't know it. It's grantsmanship. That's an aside. But it's a skill that you're building. Of course, you don't know how to write grants. You've never really done it before.

6:22 Like, okay, in what aspect of your life did you write grants consistently? And you're like, oh, no, no, I wrote term papers in college. Well, grant writing is not like writing a term paper. You could just not sleep all night, wake up in the morning and vomit a term paper worthy of an A. You cannot do that in the grant writing world. It takes time. It takes iteration and it takes pulling things together and making it as simple as possible for the reader. It takes so much more than I can tell you right now. But you know that. It's hard. And so the challenge of building your grant writing skill is that it helps you build skill. You're taking on the challenge of learning how to write scientific manuscripts well is you building skill in scientific writing.

7:09 You're taking on the challenge of leading a team that can sometimes feel dysfunctional is you building skill and team leadership. You taking on the challenge of having mentees in your program is you building the skill of becoming a mentor. It is a challenge because it helps you build skill. And the moment you've built skill in that space, guess what? It's no longer a challenge. You built skill in the space of clinical care. That's why it doesn't feel as challenging to you anymore because you built skill. But it was very challenging at the beginning. If you want to recall, bring back the PTSD of your medical school days or of your residency days.

7:51 Yeah, it used to be super hard for you. Now it's like a walk in the park, not because it became easier, but because you became more skilled. And so you become more versatile. You become more capable as you build skill and the challenge lessons. And that's why you move on to the next skill and then the next skill and then the next skill after that. And so you want to embrace challenges because they enhance your skill. The second thing that challenges do is that they build resilience. Oh, that's that word again, resilience. Everybody's trying to build resilience for physicians. Do you ever get to the point where you're like, can you just stop? Stop trying to build resilience in me and just leave me alone?

8:32 The resilience is important. Like you think about you go to the gym for strength training. Oh, yes, just flow with me here. You may not go to the gym, but just you have a great imagination. Let's just imagine it. But you go to the gym for strength training. You need the resistance. You need a weight that you can lift. You're lifting against resistance because you're building muscle. You're building the muscle of resilience. It's what you do when you accept challenges and you take them head on. It's not going to be easier. I mean, knocks down. You're going to be in pain sometimes. You're going to hurt. Sometimes you're going to want to quit. You want to give up and start crying and saying, I can't do this.

9:13 But the more you stay with it, the more you endure, the more you find ways to continue to grow despite the challenges, the more you build resilience. And when you can overcome this challenge, you build resilience for the next challenge and then the next challenge and the next challenge after that. And resilience is a skill or is a thing that you can never really stop building because there will always be need for more resilience. And the further you're going to go, the more advanced you're going to be, the more people you're going to take under your wing, the bigger the research program you're trying to build, the more resilience you need.

9:55 And that's what challenges come to do. They help you build resilience and they help you build resilience because of the challenge that's ahead. That's like a greater challenge ahead than the one you're facing right now. I know, hard to imagine. The challenge you're facing right now feels like the worst in the world, but there's more. There are more challenges ahead of you and congratulations because the challenges that you're experiencing right now as you're navigating them give you the building blocks for the next challenge and the next challenge and the next challenge after that. And that's why after 20 years of addressing challenges, you're like a superstar blockbuster hero kind of person because you built the resilience that allows you to carry great responsibility, that allows you to lead great programs, that allow you to be leader of great people.

10:36 Building resilience is a benefit of facing challenges. The third benefit of facing obstacles, facing challenges is personal growth. You're a pretty awesome person. I don't know you, but I have the sense that you're pretty phenomenal. If you don't accept that, it's not because you're not phenomenal, it's because somehow you have this modesty thing going on where you refuse to accept how amazing you are. And that's your problem, not mine. That you're pretty amazing and there's so much more amazing left, so much more waiting for you to take ownership of however amazing you are in whatever sphere of life, there is more.

11:22 And you know this. You never get that feeling that I've done all these great things, but there's more. I've accomplished so much, but there is more. There is always more. And I want you to embrace the joy and the hunger and the thirst of more. And it's not a greedy more, it's just I want to grow. And I've mastered this thing. And now what's next? What's the next thing I can master? I've been doing this for the last 10 years and it's so awesome. I've gotten really good. I'm so skilled. I can just snap my fingers and it happens, but what's more? How do I grow more? How do I challenge myself more? How do I grow? Personal growth is such an important thing.

12:04 And I think it's really important for us physicians because our training helps us to be in that space of consistent personal growth. And so when you've gone from medical school to residency and the difference has been like zero to 90, and then you go into fellowship and it's as if you'd never really got training and residency. You're bringing it all again to really grow. And then you get into this place where you're just stagnant and you're just doing the same thing over and over again. So sucking because you derive on the challenge that allows you to grow, on the challenge that builds you as a person, on the challenge that helps you be more than you thought you could be. And whatever it is you think you are, you have greater capacity for more.

12:49 Therefore, challenges come to help us grow personally. Challenges also come, number four, for career advancement. Yeah, no one's going to promote you until you've been through certain challenges. And you don't necessarily have the challenges per se as direct reasons for promotion, but challenges qualify you. Yeah, you have to deal with that difficult person in your lab who for whatever reason reported you to the authorities for whatever reason. And now it took like six months to dig out of that. And at the end you were wiser. You knew exactly who you let into your lab and who you don't. Yeah, all of that qualifies you.

13:32 Take care of a group of people because we know that there's going to be one of them that's going to report you or if it's going to challenge your authority or just bother you. It's not really bothering you, but annoy you or anger you in some way, shape or form. Your ability to deal with this challenge actually equips you to deal with the next challenge. It helps people see that you're capable. And so yeah, it gives you career advancement because when you go for those interviews where they're trying to get a sense of, are you a good fit for the role? They ask you, how have you handled a challenge when what? Or tell me about a challenge you've handled. Tell me about how you handled it and why it was the right way. What was wrong about it?

14:13 What you learned from it, right? They want to know that you can handle challenges because to be able to advance is about handling greater challenges than you've handled before. And so when you meet a challenge that comes before you, I want you to celebrate, rejoice and say, ha ha challenge. Thank you so much because you are here for my promotion and advancement. I am so excited. So challenges come to help you advance in your career. Another thing that challenges do is number five is they help you grow in innovation. They help you become more creative. Oh, there are some challenges. So you're just like, huh?

14:54 What? And after you've seen red and steam has come out of your ears and the dust has settled, you finally say, okay, well, how do I move forward? How do I move forward? And it allows you to tap into your inmost depths of creativity to make it happen. Yes. Challenges help you become more creative. They challenge you to figure it out. And because of that, you start to pull out solutions. You don't even know where those solutions came from, but they came from inside you because you are a wealth of creativity. So challenges come to spark your creativity.

15:38 Number six, you know this well, is that challenges increase your confidence. If they don't break you, yes, understood. The challenges once overcome, they become part of your story. I'm like, yeah, there was this challenge. It was before me. I was so mad. And then I did this and I did that. And this is how I came out on top. Oh, it builds confidence because you begin to create a story of yourself as someone who is an overcomer of challenges. You begin to create a story of someone who is able to go through a challenge and not break in the process. You begin to tell a narrative of someone who is not afraid to be challenged and that builds self-confidence.

16:23 Now, if you're a physician scientist listening to me right now, you've already built a lot of self-confidence and you know that there are places in your life that you're not so confident. Yes, you're a confident clinician. Don't try to get me to write that big NIH grant because I'm not very confident I can do that at all. And then you do it. And then it's like, okay, well, I can. What else can I do? Who else can I ask for, you know, $3 million or more, right? $3 million. I mean, an R1 grant, it may not be that much. What I'm saying is at the moment you've overcome something, then you're like, I can do this.

17:05 Okay, well, bring on the next challenge and it builds your confidence. Oh, so good. It builds your confidence. All right. Number seven, it helps you create networking opportunities. Now this one is my favorite one. If you're going to tackle a challenge, you're going to need help because challenges are not challenging if you can take them on by yourself. You usually need some support. And it may be that you're still the one addressing the challenge, but usually it means that you have community that encourages you while you're going through the challenge. Or you have advisors that give you advice as you're navigating the challenge. Or you have coaches that help you think through how you want to show up and navigate the challenge.

17:46 But what you're really doing is you're building community around you as you navigate challenges. You're trying to write a grant. Well, get right by yourself. You got to go find a mentor to help you. Great. And maybe there's a grant writing coach at your institution. Now there's two. And maybe there's a collaborator you're working with and they're going to write the methods for AIM3. Oh, now there's three. And you keep building and building and building. And you'll get to a point where you run out of people who can help you who are in your network. And then you have to reach out to new networks, create new networks, new collaborations so that your project moves forward. The fact that this is a challenging problem ahead of you means you need to bring people into the mix.

18:30 And that is how you grow your network. Oh, so good. So good. So good. Challenges are important because you need people to be able to overcome them. And for that reason, your network expands. You know more people at the end of the challenge, the successful conclusion of the challenge than you did when you first started out. So yes, challenges, super important. And they help you in so many ways. So I'm going to recap. Number one, challenges help you build skill. The challenge is there because you haven't built skill. And the moment you build skill, the challenge goes away and it's time for the next challenge.

19:10 Number two, it builds resilience. It's like a weight. You go to the gym, you lift it, and the weight becomes easier. It's time to build resilience with the next weight. It helps you build resilience. Number three, it helps you with personal growth because you're super awesome and there's so much more awesome that can come out of you. And every time you have to address a challenge, you have to grow personally. Number four, career advancement. Because you've handled a challenge, people know that you can handle the next challenge. And so they give you the opportunity to show them how many challenges and how big a challenge you can address, you can help address. Number five, it helps you with your innovation.

19:52 It brings out the creative side of you because in trying to solve the challenge, you got to go figure it out because no one's ever had this kind of challenge before. Or they haven't had it in this way. You go bring out your creative flow so that you can answer the question or face the challenge. Number six, it increases your confidence because the more challenges you overcome, the more you know that you're the kind of person who overcomes challenges. And finally, in order for you to address the challenge, you have networks that you have to build. And that way you create networking opportunities as a result of challenge. So I want to celebrate you even as you've come to the end of this episode. Thank you so much for staying with me.

20:33 But remember, challenges are there to help you grow. They're good for you. And when you see one, you celebrate one, even if it doesn't feel so good in the moment. All right. So if you're looking for a coach, I'm here to help you reach out to me on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn. You're more likely to find me if you go to LinkedIn, but I'd love to help you. So please tell me how I can. All right. It's been a pleasure to talk with you today. I look forward to talking with you again next time on the Clinician Researcher podcast. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Clinician Researcher podcast, where academic clinicians learn the skills to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor.

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