How to make the most of your mentors

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 --> 00:01:01,040 Now introducing your host, Toyosi Onwuemene. 12 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:04,240 Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast. 13 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:08,820 I'm your host, Toyosi Onwuemene, and it is such a pleasure to be talking with you today. 14 00:01:08,820 --> 00:01:14,280 Thank you for taking the time to listen in as we talk about how to make the most of your 15 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:15,280 mentors. 16 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:22,760 Now, sometimes there is this sense that the mentor is going to just do everything for 17 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:23,760 you. 18 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:30,200 It's going to be the one to lead you from A to B to C to Z. Everything rises and falls 19 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:35,320 with this one mentor, and sometimes it doesn't work out that way. 20 00:01:35,320 --> 00:01:38,720 We're disappointed, and we're just annoyed, and we're like, well, if this mentor would 21 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:42,160 have come through for me, my career would have been better, or we call our mentors the 22 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:43,160 Tor mentors. 23 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:49,480 Wow, so many challenges can happen in our mentoring relationships, but it's not because 24 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:50,480 of the mentor. 25 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:54,560 I would say that if you've had a challenging mentoring relationship, please do not blame 26 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:55,560 the mentor. 27 00:01:55,560 --> 00:02:00,880 And yes, I don't know your mentor, and maybe your mentor was the horrible person tormenting 28 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:01,880 you. 29 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:02,880 I'm not saying that they were not. 30 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:07,720 I certainly know people who do that, and I've had my fair share of mentors who felt like 31 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:13,760 Tor mentors, but I want to say that the relationship building is up to you. 32 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:19,120 And one of the ways that you get the best and the most out of a mentor is really taking 33 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:21,880 ownership of the mentoring relationship. 34 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:25,160 And many times we look up to our mentors and we're like, well, they're older, they're more 35 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:27,360 senior, therefore they're responsible. 36 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:32,560 But in reality, you are responsible for this mentoring relationship. 37 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:33,960 You are. 38 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:38,360 You're responsible to get out of it what you want from it. 39 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:41,880 You are in this mentoring relationship for you. 40 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:43,800 Yes, your mentor is going to benefit. 41 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:47,080 And yes, they're going to love mentoring you because you're so awesome. 42 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:50,120 And everyone loves to mentor the next generation of scientists. 43 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:52,360 So you are, I mean, it's a great relationship. 44 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:54,600 Your mentors are so excited to mentor you. 45 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:59,280 But if you're going to get what is needed to shape your own career, it's going to be 46 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:02,760 because you create the opportunity to do it. 47 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:07,040 Now there's some mentors who don't need coaching, who don't need training, who are able to just 48 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:11,480 take a person and really help them advance in their careers. 49 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:16,600 But for the most part, if a mentoring relationship is going to succeed, it's because the mentee 50 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:20,720 knows how to get the most out of the mentor. 51 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:26,440 And so I'm going to talk today about strategies that you can use to make the most use of your 52 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:27,720 mentors. 53 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:33,000 So remember in our last episode, we talked about the importance of you taking ownership 54 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:34,560 of your career? 55 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:38,960 Well taking ownership of your career means taking ownership of your mentoring relationships 56 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:40,520 as well. 57 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:46,760 And to do that, you really need to first be able to set clear goals and expectations. 58 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:49,200 What do you want for yourself? 59 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:52,080 What do you want out of this career? 60 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:53,800 Why are you here? 61 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:55,800 What do you want out of this career? 62 00:03:55,800 --> 00:04:01,720 And if you're very clear on where you're going, then you can ask someone to help you get there. 63 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:07,280 It's like the person that is out walking and you stop them and you're like, sir, are you 64 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:08,720 lost? 65 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:09,720 And they're like, yes, I'm lost. 66 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:10,720 I need directions. 67 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:11,720 And like, okay, where are you going? 68 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:14,160 And then I'm like, I'm not really sure. 69 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:18,480 How can you give such a person directions? 70 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:23,040 And perhaps you're benevolent and you're like, oh, okay, well, give me a sense of where you 71 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:24,560 think you might want to go. 72 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:25,960 And they're like, well, I'm not really sure. 73 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:26,960 I could go here. 74 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:27,960 I could go there. 75 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:28,960 Maybe I'll go there. 76 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:31,120 I'm not sure I could go anywhere. 77 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:34,560 How can you help a person like that? 78 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:39,560 Someone who doesn't have a clear address to which they're going is very difficult to give 79 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:41,060 directions to. 80 00:04:41,060 --> 00:04:44,020 And it's the same in your own career. 81 00:04:44,020 --> 00:04:49,860 If you're not very clear about where you're going, no mentor can help you get there because 82 00:04:49,860 --> 00:04:50,860 you don't know. 83 00:04:50,860 --> 00:04:56,040 And like, isn't that from Alice in Wonderland where the Cheshire Cat asked Alice where she 84 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:58,880 was going and she was like, well, nowhere really. 85 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:01,200 And he was like, well, then it doesn't matter which way you go. 86 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:02,480 And it's the same thing. 87 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:07,600 You want to clearly define your goals because when you clearly define your goals and you 88 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:09,880 understand how this mentor fits in. 89 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:14,080 So remember, there are different types of mentoring relationships. 90 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:16,200 There's a research mentor in relationship. 91 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:19,040 There's also sponsorship that happens as well. 92 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:21,040 And then there's career development mentorship. 93 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:23,960 So there are different kinds of mentoring relationships. 94 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:26,860 What you need depends on where you're going. 95 00:05:26,860 --> 00:05:30,400 Perhaps you've already gotten a lot of research mentoring and you're not necessarily looking 96 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:31,440 for another mentor. 97 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:34,640 But this person is someone you've identified as someone who can really help you move forward. 98 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:37,000 Well, in what way are they going to help you move forward? 99 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:41,240 Where are you going so that you're very clear, you know where you're going so that you're 100 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:45,440 very clear on how they can help you get there. 101 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:52,280 And so if you have very specific achievable goals, it helps you and your mentor stay focused 102 00:05:52,280 --> 00:05:54,160 on what you need to accomplish. 103 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:59,520 It helps you not go on the tangent of the great project that you could take on that 104 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:00,960 you don't really want to do. 105 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:05,120 But now you're trying not to make your mentor upset or you know, you're trying to please 106 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:06,120 your mentor. 107 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:07,720 So you're going off tangent. 108 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:12,400 And so the way that you make the most out of your mentor is to set very clear goals 109 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:17,520 and expectations so you know where you want to go and you become clear about when you're 110 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:20,440 veering off your goals. 111 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:25,080 And I will tell you that the process of setting goals and expectations is very hard. 112 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:26,080 This is difficult. 113 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:27,580 It's number one for a reason. 114 00:06:27,580 --> 00:06:28,940 It is hard. 115 00:06:28,940 --> 00:06:35,640 It's hard because in our training in medicine, there's the prescribed path. 116 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:37,560 There's like, this is where everybody goes. 117 00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:41,840 This is at the end of four years, you graduate medical school, there's no questions asked. 118 00:06:41,840 --> 00:06:44,240 At the end of three years, the residency is over. 119 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:47,480 This is the way it works all the time. 120 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:51,240 And when we get to the place where we're planning our own careers, there isn't such a clear 121 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:52,320 path. 122 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:57,440 And so we haven't been practicing the muscle of defining where we want to go. 123 00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:01,360 And so it's something that we haven't been exercising the muscle of defining where we 124 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:02,360 want to go. 125 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:03,960 And so it's helpful that we start to do that. 126 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:09,560 So setting clear goals and expectations for yourself is the most important first step 127 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:11,440 in making the best use of your mentors. 128 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:13,400 So that's number one. 129 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:16,720 Number two is to communicate these goals and expectations. 130 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:24,880 And so sometimes, okay, number two is to communicate these goals and expectations effectively. 131 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:29,280 So you know where you're going inside your head, but nobody else knows it. 132 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:33,520 They still can't help you get there or give you the directions that are necessary to get 133 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:34,640 you there. 134 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:38,560 Because although the goals are very clear to you, you're not communicating them. 135 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:42,480 And part of communicating is really being open and honest. 136 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:48,320 And this can be really hard, this effective communication, because we don't want to disappoint 137 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:49,460 our mentors. 138 00:07:49,460 --> 00:07:55,280 If we come into their program and they say, oh, my goodness, I'm so glad you're here with 139 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:58,200 your expertise, you're going to help me move this project forward. 140 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:00,240 It's going to be so awesome. 141 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:03,280 And you're a little bit deflated because you're like, well, that's not why you wanted that 142 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:04,280 mentor specifically. 143 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:07,360 And you're not interested in moving in that new direction. 144 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:09,400 But you don't want to disappoint them. 145 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:13,600 And maybe they're the number one research mentor in the whole institution, and you don't 146 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:18,020 want to be the one mentee who fails in their expectation. 147 00:08:18,020 --> 00:08:19,560 And so then you don't share. 148 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:21,960 You don't share that that's not where you want to go. 149 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:26,140 And then you start on a project that you don't really want to be on. 150 00:08:26,140 --> 00:08:27,840 And it can be challenging. 151 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:33,840 And so that's why you need to maintain open and honest communication with your mentors. 152 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:36,880 And if there's something you disagree with, if there's a direction they're trying to take 153 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:42,020 you in that you don't want to go, the importance of stopping and saying, hey, I really love 154 00:08:42,020 --> 00:08:43,020 that idea. 155 00:08:43,020 --> 00:08:45,160 And that's not where I want to go. 156 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:48,120 And that's where it goes back to number one, setting clear goals and expectations. 157 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:52,400 So you do know when you're veering off tangent, and you can be very clear and communicate 158 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:54,160 it to a mentor. 159 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:59,520 And so you want to make sure that you are open and honest in your communication. 160 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:03,200 And if you're not able to do that, I will tell you that this is where a coach can be 161 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:05,940 helpful to help you clarify what is your desire. 162 00:09:05,940 --> 00:09:07,920 What is the challenge that you have? 163 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:10,200 What is your true feeling about it? 164 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:15,360 So that you can then choose how to best communicate with your mentor. 165 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:20,860 So you definitely want to make sure that your communication is open, it's honest, it's effective. 166 00:09:20,860 --> 00:09:25,440 You want to keep them up to date on your goals. 167 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:29,120 And you know, as goals are changing, because goals are not static things. 168 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:31,860 You master something, you want to move on to the next thing. 169 00:09:31,860 --> 00:09:34,560 Or you see that you have a new direction you want to set. 170 00:09:34,560 --> 00:09:39,920 You want to be able to communicate them clearly so that as the mentor is trying to help you 171 00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:42,560 move forward, they know exactly how to do that. 172 00:09:42,560 --> 00:09:45,320 Okay, so that's number two, communicate effectively. 173 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:48,640 Number three is to be proactive. 174 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:50,480 You've got to be proactive. 175 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:52,240 I was not a proactive mentee. 176 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:56,920 I was the one who was always waiting for the mentor to find me and say, hey, how's it going? 177 00:09:56,920 --> 00:09:57,920 What do you need? 178 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:04,160 And to be honest, when I finally, I think grew up in my mentoring relationships, I recognized 179 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:08,400 that the mentoring relationships were for me, therefore I needed to be proactive in 180 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:09,400 the mentoring relationships. 181 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:13,840 And part of that is making sure you're clear on how this mentor helps you like, how does 182 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:15,520 this mentor help you? 183 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:19,240 And if you are very clear about the gap that you're trying to fill with this mentoring 184 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:24,480 relationship, then take ownership and fill the gap. 185 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:29,800 Help the mentor help you schedule the meetings as you need to prepare questions and topics 186 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:30,800 for discussion. 187 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:32,520 Don't let them don't don't show up. 188 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:34,160 And then they're like, oh, great, I'm glad you're here. 189 00:10:34,160 --> 00:10:35,160 This is what I want to talk about. 190 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:37,120 I mean, it's great if they want to do that. 191 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:40,160 But you have a clear purpose and a plan for this mentor in your life. 192 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:46,280 So you want to make sure you are proactive in, you know, preparing the questions that 193 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:50,580 help you, the help lead you to the answers that move your research forward. 194 00:10:50,580 --> 00:10:54,540 And so when you're proactive and demonstrating your commitment, it helps. 195 00:10:54,540 --> 00:10:58,880 It helps because well, the person who has specificity around where they want to go is 196 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:03,600 so much easier to help than the person who's just not sure, doesn't really want to reach 197 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:04,600 out. 198 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:10,240 And to be honest, you know, mentors have so much going on in their lives that if you never 199 00:11:10,240 --> 00:11:14,640 showed up, they might they might wonder where you are, but they may not necessarily have 200 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:16,980 the bandwidth to reach out and say, how are you doing? 201 00:11:16,980 --> 00:11:21,200 And remember, a mentoring relationship is not like a mother, son or mother daughter 202 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:22,200 relationship. 203 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:26,360 This is not like a nurturing, like, oh, my love, how are you? 204 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:30,640 It's great if you have that and if you have that wonderful, good for you. 205 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:32,320 But it doesn't need to be that way. 206 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:35,080 It really is a professional relationship. 207 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:40,880 And if you are getting what you need in your personal and professional goal, I'm sorry, 208 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:45,120 if you're getting what you need in terms of your research growth, good for you. 209 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:47,600 That's pretty much you have what you need. 210 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:49,400 And maybe your mentor is not warm and fuzzy. 211 00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:53,720 Remember, you're not there for this mentor for warmness, warmth and fuzziness. 212 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:58,000 You can have other mentors, especially outside of academia, to give you the warmth and fuzziness 213 00:11:58,000 --> 00:11:59,000 needed. 214 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:01,320 But you want to be clear about how this mentor helps you. 215 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:06,920 And then you want to be proactive about getting them to help you. 216 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:11,880 The other thing is the importance of learning from your mentors experiences. 217 00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:15,760 So your mentors are living in a different world, or at least they came up at a different 218 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:18,200 time, a different era than you are. 219 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:19,920 They had different challenges. 220 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:22,740 But overall, the themes are similar. 221 00:12:22,740 --> 00:12:25,920 And so it's helpful to learn from their experience. 222 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:29,120 It's helpful to listen more than you speak. 223 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:31,440 So yes, you're the one being proactive. 224 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:33,280 You're the one who's bringing the agenda. 225 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:36,320 You're the one who's saying, hey, this is how I want you to help me. 226 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:40,080 But when you do ask questions, you want to make sure you listen. 227 00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:45,440 You know, let them ask them questions about their past successes and their failures. 228 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:47,240 Ask especially about the failures. 229 00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:49,440 People don't talk about failures enough. 230 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:52,040 And sometimes hearing about the failures is enough for you. 231 00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:54,400 It inspires you and encourages you. 232 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:56,440 Because you're like, oh, you failed. 233 00:12:56,440 --> 00:13:01,080 And you're still here or you're doing awesome, even though you failed. 234 00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:03,680 And it just helps you move forward in a different way. 235 00:13:03,680 --> 00:13:07,360 But the only way you find out is when you listen. 236 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:13,080 And so in listening, you are able to get insights that perhaps you wouldn't have been able to 237 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:19,840 get before when you're very focused on just, you know, the challenge that's ahead of you. 238 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:24,800 And so definitely take time to listen and learn from their experiences and make sure 239 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:29,840 that you are able to really leverage that to the growth and advancement of your own 240 00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:30,840 career. 241 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:37,760 Another thing that's important is to really show them gratitude, is to show mentors gratitude. 242 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:41,900 And it's just that, to be honest, this is something that applies to everybody, anybody 243 00:13:41,900 --> 00:13:45,320 who at any time meets with you to speak with you about your career. 244 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:47,080 It's just to say thank you. 245 00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:48,540 It's just to say thank you. 246 00:13:48,540 --> 00:13:50,880 It's really just simple just to say thank you. 247 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:54,080 It says, hey, I value your time. 248 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:55,080 I value expertise. 249 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:58,200 Thank you for taking this time to meet with me. 250 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:02,760 And it may be that you're supporting your mentors program and your work is also moving 251 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:05,760 their work forward, which is great. 252 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:10,860 And I think it's just important actually that we acknowledge each other and we thank each 253 00:14:10,860 --> 00:14:16,520 other for the things we do that allow us to move forward in a big and important way. 254 00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:19,240 And anyway, so it's important. 255 00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:20,320 It's important to do these things. 256 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:22,320 So I want to just go through these five things again. 257 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:24,640 You want to make sure you have clear goals and expectations. 258 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:29,240 You want to communicate effectively, honestly, openly. 259 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:34,000 You want to be proactive and take ownership and direct your own career. 260 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:39,400 You want to learn from their experiences and you want to show gratitude because it is so 261 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:43,420 important that we show gratitude to people who help us move forward. 262 00:14:43,420 --> 00:14:49,000 So I say all that and I want to share with you and remind you that you are leading your 263 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:50,000 own career. 264 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:52,000 You absolutely are. 265 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:55,880 And part of finding the way to make the most of your mentors is being clear about where 266 00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:57,160 you're going. 267 00:14:57,160 --> 00:14:59,960 And if you're not clear, to do the work of getting clear. 268 00:14:59,960 --> 00:15:02,320 And that's where I think a coach can be helpful. 269 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:08,240 And if you're a clinician looking for a coach who can help you make that transition, build 270 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:13,280 the infrastructure in your life to be able to successfully make that transition from 271 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:17,500 clinician to clinician scientist, I would love to work with you. 272 00:15:17,500 --> 00:15:18,920 Please come work with me. 273 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:19,920 Send me a DM. 274 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:22,800 I'm on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. 275 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:25,080 And let me know how I can be of help to you. 276 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:28,240 And if it makes sense for both of us, then we move forward. 277 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:33,420 But it is important to recognize that you need to take ownership. 278 00:15:33,420 --> 00:15:37,800 Whatever is necessary to do that so that you can make the most of the mentors in your life 279 00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:40,480 is absolutely worth doing. 280 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:43,240 Ultimately, you are responsible for your career. 281 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:46,160 You're responsible for the choices that are made. 282 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:50,100 Even if your mentor strongly recommends something and it doesn't work out, you are still responsible 283 00:15:50,100 --> 00:15:51,640 for the fallout. 284 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:56,140 So definitely make use of the people that you have around you. 285 00:15:56,140 --> 00:16:02,520 And remember that you ultimately are leading your own experience and you get to you get 286 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:03,520 to choose. 287 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:05,120 You absolutely get to choose. 288 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:06,120 All right. 289 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:08,560 It has been a pleasure talking with you today. 290 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:19,400 Thank you for taking the time to listen. 291 00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:24,720 Thanks for listening to this episode of the Clinician Researcher podcast, where academic 292 00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:30,000 clinicians learn the skills to build their own research program, whether or not they 293 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:31,540 have a mentor. 294 00:16:31,540 --> 00:16:37,520 If you found the information in this episode to be helpful, don't keep it all to yourself. 295 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:39,400 Someone else needs to hear it. 296 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:43,440 So take a minute right now and share it. 297 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:48,900 As you share this episode, you become part of our mission to help launch a new generation 298 00:16:48,900 --> 00:17:01,760 of clinician researchers who make transformative discoveries that change the way we do health