Dec 23, 2015

Mentorship

Dec 23, 2015

My historical domains of interest–healthcare education, technology and quality are not the prototypical bench science pursuits. Those with traditional academic careers (e.g. bench scientists) have a hard time understanding what it is I do. In fact, it has been difficult to find traditional academic mentors due to the uniqueness of my niche.

Time has reinforced the true importance of mentorship. I am forever thankful to the mentors I had thus far in my career-several took an interest in me even though they didn't fully understand my passion. It has been challenging given my interest in cutting / bleeding edge technologies to find mentors at the faculty level—there simply aren’t others that do what I do. Despite this, I have had a modicum of success despite this shortcoming by seeking strong mentors that although they do not understand my domain, do excel excel at mentoring.

It is my hope, by assembling an outstanding, passionate and productive team, we will help change the definition of a 'traditional' academic career.

More importantly, I’ve tried to pass the mentoring I've received forward—and have found I especially enjoy mentoring certain types of individuals—those that have intrinsic motivation andpassion for success—qualities Angela Duckworth (another positive psychology researcher) refers to as “Grit.” Gritty individuals, in my experience, are much more likely to find success in their academic endeavors. One of my mentees, Ryan Fink, is investigating the correlation of Grit with academic success.

I’ve found an ever-expanding number of residents, nurses, fellows and young faculty are interested in developing simulation and patient safety as the focus of their academic pursuits. I receive supreme satisfaction in helping talented individuals realize their potential. I plan to expand my circle of interprofessional mentees in the next phase of my career, supporting and mentoring them .

Dec 23, 2015