The Professional Mission Statement: Defining Your Career Goals John D Mahan, MD Professor of Pediatrics Pediatric Residency Program and Pediatric Nephrology Fellowship Program Director Assistant Dean for Faculty Development, The Ohio State University

Chinese Proverb If we don’t change our direction, we are likely to end up where we are headed!

The Vision: Key to Defining Your Professional Mission Statement Identify your personal goals and interests What do you value? What does the organization value? What can you share with mentor and colleagues? Define your Professional Mission Statement Will help you address your Vision/Goals Set Priorities and Enact your Plan Revisit often / Post in office? Ensure productivity Minimize surprises / Maximize satisfaction!

Vision vs. Mission Vision Mission Defines the optimal desired future state - the mental picture - of what you want to accomplish, what the future should be Provides guidance and inspiration for your mission and efforts in the next 1, 5, 10 years Is written succinctly, in an inspirational manner Is useful for sharing with supervisors, mentors and colleagues Defines your purpose – what you want to be and do in your profession Answers 3 questions about you: WHAT you will do WHO it is for HOW you will do it It is written succinctly in one sentence It is something that you can share with supervisors, mentors and colleagues Can be used to assess the value of any new activities (asked of you or in your interest)

Objectives (at the end of this presentation, the learner will be able to:) Describe the components of a successful professional development strategy Develop a basic Professional Mission Statement (PMS) and plan Clarify your Current Project List to relation to your PMS Describe the 4/20 Habits for Academic Success Colleagues Environment Successful Style Citizenship

Case of Richard MD now finishing 3rd year as an Assistant Professor on the Tenure Track Graduated from a top tier fellowship program with excellent research training and intense desire to continue research career On service only 2 months a year - great reviews as teacher and clinician Took longer than expected to get research enterprise (people, resources, local collaborators) up and going – has only one local collaborator Division Director expects him to focus on his research and publish, submit a large national grant each year and present at national meetings His productivity has been less than desired but he feels that he is getting momentum now – he spends 8-12 hours each weekend on his research The Division Director calls him in and explains that he may not qualify for additional internal support due to lack of publications and grant proposals He needs to submit a NIH grant in the next 6 months – if he does not get a competitive score, his research career will be in jeopardy! Should he continue to work this hard on his research? What is wrong here? What should he do now? What could have been done earlier?

Defining Your Professional Mission Statement Draft Initial statement. Refine statement to include why it is so important. Re-draft statement to include why it is so important to you.

Perspective on Developing a Profession Mission Statement… “Life’s greatest gift is the opportunity to work hard at work worth doing.” Theodore Roosevelt

Professional Mission Statement: Undesirable Examples To be the best cardiologist I can be. To be the best faculty teacher of medical students. To be outstanding in research, clinical care and education.

Professional Mission Statement: Desirable Examples To become an expert in incorporating patient/parent education in improving the care of children with sickle cell disease To be a leader in the field of developing new anti-cancer compounds for the treatment of patients with leukemia To be a national leader in developing evidence based education in cardiology training

Professional Mission Statement: Desirable Examples Vision Professional Mission Statement Children with sickle cell disease will have better clinical outcomes as a result of better patient/parent education Patients with leukemia will benefit from new anti-cancer drugs developed at Nationwide Children’s Hospital To become an expert in incorporating patient/parent education in improving the care of children with sickle cell disease. To be a leader in the field of developing new anti-cancer compounds for the treatment of patients with leukemia.

Reviewing Your Professional Mission Statement Present your PMS to your small group (4-6/group). Listen and suggest improvements to your peer’s PMS drafts. Discuss several PMS drafts among entire group.

Developing Your Current Projects List List your current working projects. Rate the degree of congruence (High / Medium / Low) with your PMS for each activity. Rate the perceived priority of your supervisor for each activity.

Reviewing Your Current Projects List Do you have more “High”s or more “Medium”s and “Low”s? Review and update each year. Create and Execute a Plan to replace 1-2 “Low”s or “Medium”s each year.

Completing Your Successful Faculty Worksheet Complete worksheet based on your current habits

Perspective on Developing a Successful Career… “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” George Bernard Shaw Irish playwright

Reviewing Your Successful Faculty Worksheet Do you have more “M”s, or more “S”s and “N”s ???... Review Each Year Create and Execute a Plan to Improve in 1-2 Areas Each Year

Colleagues Associate and collaborate with distinguished colleagues in your field Develop a colleague network which includes senior colleagues, peers, administrators, staff Collaborate with colleagues on writing, teaching, research and administration Regularly obtain guidance and feedback from senior colleagues Maintain regular contact with colleagues both inside and outside institution Borrow and offer resources

Environment Gravitate toward local peers who are academically productive Work toward establishing a supportive work climate (colleagues and resources) Strive to establish >10% protected time for academic pursuits Strive to establish institutional support for pursuit of topics you deeply value Strive to ensure your Chair appreciates and values your work

Successful Personal Style Ensure you are productive in your first 5 years Work in small bursts (on vs. off service) Pursue several projects simultaneously Pursue topics of personal interest, consistent with your values and mission Work with some degree of perceived autonomy Take risks

Citizenship National - Regularly attend national meetings Regional – Become active in regional and national programs Local – Become active on medical school and hospital committees, working groups, and curriculum committees Network with other good citizens to drive your agenda (or their agenda)

Final Point: Document Your Accomplishments! Statement of philosophy on teaching Teaching/Learner evaluations Representative syllabi/course materials Every new committee, work group, assignment Every journal or granting agency for whom you review Every publication, abstract, invited presentation Every grant you have pending or awarded Update CV Every Month !

Aligning Your Mission Reflect on Your PMS and Align What motivates your professional mission statement? Why do you want to do what you want to do? - is this part of a belief, experience, value, etc.? What is your institutional mission statement? And that of your Department, Division, Center, etc? Usually it is general and allows diversity. How does your mission statement and underlying values align with that of your institution? When you are busy or stressed can you recognize this alignment?

Homework Develop and Refine your PMS Seek input from your Mentor/Supervisor Re-Visit your PMS with Mentor/Supervisor Junior faculty: Quarterly Senior Faculty: Every 6-12 months Share concerns with your Mentor/Supervisor Use your Current Projects List as a Guidepost Move toward “High”s and away from “Low”s Revisit your Successful Faculty List at least yearly Intentionally increase your assets Share with your Mentor/Supervisor Live your plan !

“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.” Peter Drucker “Plans are nothing; planning is everything.” Dwight Eisenhower

References Simpson DE, Fincher RM. Making a case for the teaching scholar. Acad Med. 1999 Dec;74(12):1296-9. Umiker W. Developing a mission statement for self and family. Health Care Superv. 1998 Dec;17(2):39-44. McCurdy FA. Marcdante K. Setting a personal career direction. J Cardiovasc Manag. 2003 Mar-Apr;14(2):18-21. Rojas-Guyler L, Murnan J, Cottrell RR. Networking for career-long success: a powerful strategy for health education professionals. Health Promot Pract. 2007 Jul;8(3):229-33. Thanks!!! Deborah Simpson, Ph.D. Professor, Family and Community Medicine, Associate Dean for Educational Support and Evaluation Medical College of Wisconsin Lewis R. First, M.D. Professor and Chair, Pediatrics, University of Vermont School of Medicine Ed Zalneraitis, MD. Pediatric Program Director, Professor and Associate Dean, University of Connecticut Willaim E. Smoyer, Vice President and Director, Clinical and Translational Research, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital