How to choose the right project

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. I'm your host, Toyosi Onwuemene, and it is a pleasure to be speaking with you today. I am especially excited about today's topic, which is about choosing a research project to work on. Now, if you're a seasoned researcher, you already know you have a whole slew of ideas that you want to put into practice, that you want to execute, but if you're not, if you are like, I don't know which research project to work on, there's so many before me, there's so many I could work on, then this episode is for you.

1:32 If you are seasoned and you have no trouble, you should definitely just forward this on to your mentees, but if you need to know how to choose, I'm going to just share some insights with you. Now, why do I do this? I am a clinician scientist myself, and I lead a research team. We have a health services research program, and I also coach people to succeed in research. Now, what's the difference between mentoring and coaching? Well, I have a group of mentees who are part of my research program, and I help them kind of move forward in the way I've moved forward. So I've successfully submitted manuscripts. Now they are learning how to do that. I've successfully submitted grants. They're learning how to do that.

2:14 But as a coach, I can help more people, and what I do is I don't necessarily do the work for people or show people how to do things, but I help them think about how to best get the most out of their experience so that they can get what they want. And so that's helping people kind of think strategically, that's helping people get connected with what they want, and that's helping people really make an investment in themselves so that they can be the best that they can be in moving forward in their careers, because your career is only as good as you. So your fund of knowledge is great, but only to the extent to which you develop yourself, are you really able to accelerate and take advantage of the opportunities around you.

2:58 And so that's what I do as a coach. If you're looking for a coach, reach out to me, send me a DM. I would love to work with you because it is important that we are all really playing our best game because we win, our families win, and our institutions win as well. And then clearly our mentees win as well. So anyway, so if you're thinking, how do I consider choosing a research project, I hope that you won't be like me, because when I started, I just had so many options and there were so many options and there were so many faculty members saying, hey, come work with me and hey, I'll help you move forward in this way and hey, I'm going to mentor you.

3:39 And it's great when you have all of those options, but then which one do you choose? And so if you were like me and you're like, I'll just do everything and hope for the best and I'll go with the one that works. As I know, that's not the way to think about it. And I'm going to tell you about five things to think about as you move forward and as you're moving forward in your research career and choosing what projects to work on. So the first thing that I will say is that you should start with why. So this is the title of a book written by Simon Sinek and I think it's a book worth reading, but it's important to think about why are you doing this? Many times when we first of all started in our careers, we were doing these research things transactionally.

4:25 A lot of the academic scholarly things we did were transactions, like if I do it, I get credit for doing it and then I'm able to change in or cash in the credit for my next level. So I'm a medical student, I do research, okay, I can go on to residency. I am a resident, I do research, great, I can cash in the credit so I can go on to fellowship. And so there's a lot of that going on. But when you finally get to a place where you're kind of like really thinking about launching your own career, it's not a transaction anymore. It's what you want to do.

5:06 And so you're not exchanging what you're doing for the next level. What you're doing is the next level. It is the journey. And so research is not a destination, it's a journey. It's a journey that allows you to make an incredible and lasting contribution. But to be honest, the journey never ends. It's not a journey anyway. You get to the contribution and you're like, that was it, my final contribution. There's always more that can be contributed. So you're going to get to a point in your career where you're going to say, I've contributed enough, I'm now going to move on to the next thing. And maybe that's retirement, maybe that's another research program, maybe that's an administrative role. You get to decide because there really is no end. And so it's important to enjoy the journey.

5:49 It's important to enjoy the journey. Yes, accolades will come. You'll get really great research papers out of it. You'll get great abstracts. You'll be called to present in different places. All that will happen in due time. It will happen in due time. But what's really important when all those things, all those shiny things are not around you, that you're still engaged and you're still energized by the work you do. And you love the discoveries that you're making. For that reason, it's important to start with why. Make sure this is work you want to do. Make sure this is a population that you really want to invest in. You want them to win.

6:30 And so make that investment. Now, it doesn't mean you should only do one single solitary project in that field. But if you have a sense of the greater area to which you want to contribute, it frees you up to take off little pieces of that and continue to move projects that are kind of like centered around a theme forward. And so yes, one project may fail, but they're all centered around a theme. So they build upon each other. They allow you to move things forward so that, okay, this one may fail, but I can now take all the things I learned from this one and put it in the other one. Starting with why allows you to have a sense of purpose about your work. It allows you to focus and have energy for the work you do.

7:13 When the rejections come, and they inevitably will, it allows you to pick yourself up and move forward because your why is so clear. And so if for whatever reason you're disconnected from your why, you're not able to really have a clear sense of your purpose, it's there. You're just not able to really reveal it. Working with a coach can be helpful to help you figure it out. It's a safe space for you to really think through why are you here? Why did you come? What is a thing to which you can contribute that would really energize you? And working with a coach can be helpful to help you do that. So I'm always saying, hey, if you don't have a coach, shout out to me and I'd love to work with you. So that's it. Start with why. Number two is the power of laser focus.

7:57 I will tell you that as clinicians, we love many shiny things. We're like TTP, oh, oh, exciting, TMA, whoa, whoa, exciting, single cell, wow, I love single cell, thrombosis, oh my goodness, it's all thrombosis. As clinicians, we love clinical things. We are medicine or med peds, docs at heart, and we're just interested in so many things. But the problem with shiny object syndrome is that your energy is diffuse. It's just, you're just doing so many things so you can't gain traction in any one area. And in reality, if you're going to succeed, if you're going to succeed wildly, if you're going to succeed and use the least amount of energy doing it, you're going to learn how to be super focused.

8:47 It doesn't mean you only do one project and take it to its bitter end. And if it failed, it's like, well, I lost seven years of my life. Doesn't mean that. But it does mean that you choose a narrow area of focus that you are contributing in. And to be honest, there's so much that we don't know. So that even a narrow area of focus can even be made more narrow. But essentially, I think if I think about it as a clinician, choose one disease area of focus, choose one particular thing that you're interested in, and start chipping away at that. And don't just chip at one spot. Find a second spot and start chipping away at the second spot. Find the third spot. Start chipping away at that.

9:28 And as long as it's all in the same thing, it all is propelling you forward. So yes, you submitted a grant in the first area which you're chipping away at. And then when it comes to the third area, there's still a lot of basic foundational structure that you can carry over to the other area. And so it helps you really gain traction as you're moving forward. And so it's important to be laser focused. The other thing to think about, number three, is the value of time spent thinking about your project. When you are working on the same thing day in and day out, even when you're sleeping, your mind is working.

10:11 It's thinking about the project. It's unraveling things. It's kind of dealing with thorny issues. And so the more time you are spent focused in an area of work, the more mileage you're able to get out of it because your mind is constantly processing. It's bringing ideas to the fore. It's workshopping them. And sometimes you just get these eureka type moments and it looks like serendipity, but the reality is that your mind has been working on it because this is just something you keep bringing to your mind day after day as you engage the project, as you engage different aspects of the project. So remember that there is really value to time invested in a project.

10:55 And that's why you don't want to just do every project that comes your way. You want to be strategic about the projects that you choose. Number four is recognizing the power of compound interest. Okay, so it's not compound interest because we're not really talking about investments, but we really are talking about investments. We're not talking about investments of money, but we're talking about investments of time, energy, focus. And really over time, all of that effort starts to compound. And so there may be a long lag time where it looks like there's barely any growth, where it looks like there's barely any movement. And then all of a sudden it just explodes and things start to work and opportunities start to come.

11:43 They come as you are investing time and energy. And really all of that time, energy and effort, it compounds over time. And it may take a long time to start compounding, but when it does, it really, really starts to move. And a lot of that is because you've been investing in one area. Yes, you're diversifying your portfolio in that area, but you're moving forward every time. And when things start to move, they really, really, really move because there's the power of just your continued investment in that area and it really helps to accelerate you in your work over time.

12:27 Don't lose heart as you're waiting for that acceleration to come. It's why you got to be enjoying the journey. It's why you start with why so you're in the place that you really want to be when things are not going like they're supposed to. So think about the power of just compounding your efforts and your investments in one area of focus. The fifth thing you want to think about is the importance of sustainability. Look, you are in an academic career, I hope, for the long haul. And so I'm thinking 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, possibly 40 years. You want to enjoy the journey.

13:08 You want to make it sustainable. You want to make sure that this job you're doing, you're going to be able to do it decades from now. You're going to be healthy enough. You're not going to be burned out and worn out and just overwhelmed with everything. And so as you're thinking about research projects, think about the importance of sustainability. So don't just go for the first thing you see. Don't just do a knee-jerk reaction and say, I don't want this person to be mad. I'll just take it. You're building a long career. You're building a long-term career. You're building a long, long, long-term career. And you want to make sure that you're going to be able to sustain your interests over the course of your career.

13:52 So I encourage you to think about that as you're thinking about research projects to work on. Ultimately, you get to make the choice. Nobody else can make the choice for you unless you abdicate your choice and have somebody else choose for you. And I would say that there is no wrong choice. There is no right choice. But it is wrong if it's not what you want to do and you're doing it because you're afraid, afraid that there won't be another opportunity, afraid that there won't be another mentor, or afraid that your mentor will abandon you forever and you'll be stuck. Don't let fear guide your decision. Have a sense of purpose. Have a sense of abundance. And then trust that as you're choosing, opportunities are going to open up over time so that your impact is really maximized and it goes as far as it can.

14:44 I want to invite you, if you've enjoyed this episode, that you would share it with someone else. Leave us a five-star review. Help other people find us. And send me feedback. I will be looking for your DMs through Facebook or Instagram or even on LinkedIn. I am open to hearing from you about how we can better serve you on the podcast. It's been a pleasure to talk with you today. I look forward to the next time. 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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