In this new series, we shift the focus from clinical guidance and cutting-edge research to another critical aspect of practicing medicine: leadership and professional well-being. We’ll hear from leaders—and future leaders—about challenges they’ve faced, the tools they’ve developed to navigate difficulties when they inevitably arise, the importance of cultivating mentorships, and how to balance work with family and personal goals and responsibilities. Send your ideas and suggestions of any leaders you’d like to hear from to smtilyou@mcmahonmed.com.
It’s no secret that healthcare involves high stakes and high stress, and at the Scrubs & Heels Leadership Summit earlier this year, summit co-founder Anita Afzali, MD, and presenter Jennifer Christie, MD, hosted a breakout session on pursuing success amid these pressures. Their message? Meaningful success is self-defined.
Dr. Afzali, the executive chair of medicine at the University of Cincinnati, said it can be helpful to think of a whole person as consisting of four buckets: family, community, work and self. “We have to be careful how much we feed into each of these buckets,” she cautioned. “Sometimes, we’re probably feeding into one, maybe two buckets a little too much.” She also stressed that it’s important to avoid comparing oneself with others.
“Oftentimes, we let society define [success] for us, [or we weigh] what our families think we should do, what our organizations think we should do, even mentors,” said Dr. Christie, a professor of gastroenterology at University of Colorado Anschutz, in Aurora. “But at the end of the day, if we’re not happy with those decisions, … then we can’t find that joy and we cannot provide that joy to others.”
—GEN Staff