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Are you a physician who's looking to build your career and be recognized nationally, but is having trouble getting on the program or getting your articles published? Are you having difficulty finding mentors and coaches to help you get ahead quickly? Well, don't spin your wheels or lose out on your personal life. This is the podcast for you. I'm Stacey Ishman, and I'm the host of the Medical Mentor Coaching Podcast.
I'm a full professor who's built clinical research and administrative programs while mentoring and coaching young academic physicians from medical school through their first 10 years of practice. It was not long ago I was in the same boat as many of you, struggling to be known for my area of expertise, feeling like my contributions were lost in the shuffle and unsure how to advance my career. I spent a lot of time juggling tasks that didn't quite align with my goals or bring me any joy, and I missed out on a lot of precious moments with my family.
But I've had my aha moment, and now I'm all about channeling my energy into activities that truly propel me forward and bring me happiness. Please join me on the Medical Mentor Coaching Podcast as we dive into all things career advancement, finding your niche, and working towards that elusive work-life integration. Hello, and welcome back to the Medical Mentor Coaching Podcast.
Today, I'm going to be talking to you about building your academic brand and how to score a committee seat. There is no need to take notes. I've also created a checklist that pulls these recommendations together.
If you want a copy, please DM me at Instagram or Facebook or LinkedIn with the word Niche, N-I-C-H-E, and we will send that along to you. Now, while publishing, presenting, and securing speaking engagements are excellent ways to amplify your niche, another powerful strategy is to get involved with committees or working groups within your professional organizations. Committee participation allows you to shape the direction of your field directly while increasing your visibility among leadership and decision makers.
And I'll let you know that once you get known for being someone who does the work, you'll be asked to do more things than you want to do. And if you take nothing from this podcast, I want to be sure you understand that if you're going to be on a committee, you have to do the work. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
So first, I want to take you step-by-step through how to get on the committee, and then we'll talk a little bit about what to do once you get there. The very first thing I think you should consider is what organizations make the most sense for you to focus your time. I recommend you start by picking an organization or two where you want to put your efforts.
I also want you to remember that if these don't end up feeling like the right place for you, personally or professionally, you can always change your mind later. But start by picking one or two. And when you're thinking about what organizations make the most sense for you, it's likely something that caters most closely to your exact specialty.
However, it may be you have a special interest organization that makes more sense. So for someone in surgery, it may be that the American College of Surgeons is your interest, or maybe you're interested in the broader world and looking at the American Medical Association. But you may have a special interest in surgical education.
Alternatively, you may also have a subspecialty like endocrine surgery and find that this organization is the best place for you to make your mark. Regardless of your specialty, I recommend you select your one or two organizations to start that fit your interests and are places where you may have an opportunity to be involved. Now you may also want to talk to your mentors and sponsors who could help you get involved in the organizations they think are the most important.
In addition, they may have influence in those organizations, which may help you get involved. They may be able to help you much more quickly get on a committee or in a working group. And if you're not sure where to start, I suggest picking those organizations that most closely align with your focus area and interests.
But of course, talking to your department chairs, division chiefs, and colleagues will often push you towards one organization or another. I also recommend that you devote your energy strategically to these groups so you don't spread yourself too thin across too many organizations or too many committees. And once you've selected these two organizations, it's important to look at the possibilities for communities within those.
If there are committees that fit perfectly with your area of interest, of course, select those first. But keep in mind that others may also have the same desire. And so you're not always going to get on the ideal committee the first time around.
Sometimes it's just about getting appointed to any committee so that you can work your way towards the ideal ones. So if we go back to the previous example, you might choose to focus on endocrine surgery or medical education or more generic quality committee. If you have an opportunity to select or apply to targeted committees, it's also useful to have conversations with your mentors and sponsors who may be able to recommend you directly to the committee and organizational leadership.
Some organizations also allow you to rank them and so do keep in mind you may not be on your ideal committee to start. As sponsors and mentors can also give you insight as to which committees may be open to your input or where people's work is most clearly highlighted within the organization. I also want to remind you that meaningful committee work can be broader than your specific medical specialty.
It may be a focus on equity or the business of medicine or multi-specialty guideline development. Now I suggest as you navigate this process you do find at least one committee that fits your clinical area of interest. This will allow you to connect with like-minded peers and can serve as a basis for collaboration and connection.
If your organization has open committee meetings, meaning anyone can attend, I really recommend attending these as a guest. And the reason this is important is it shows the people on the committee and especially the chair that you have a real interest. I also definitely recommend writing your name on the sign-up sheet as a non-member so they have your name and when you apply the next time around you're more familiar to them.
I've been in organizations where this is the top reason that people are selected for committees. There also may be an opportunity to volunteer to help the committee even as a guest. This is especially true for smaller organizations where committees may be understaffed.
Now if you do volunteer, please be sure to do something consistent within your area of interest. Make sure to complete the work and this will absolutely serve to get your name out there and show the committee members that you're the person they should be picking the next time around. Now if committee meetings are not open, meaning you cannot attend them without being a member, I recommend you reach out directly to the committee chair and express your interest and even volunteer to see if there's anything you can do to help.
I also want to emphasize that if there's an opportunity and you really want to be involved, I do think that volunteering your time as a non-member can be very valuable. There are definitely meetings and at some organizations they'll tell you if there's anybody in the room interested, please raise your hand or give a suggestion. So even if you're not a member, raise your hand.
Now if you're not sure what the etiquette is however, it's ideal to have asked somebody ahead of time. This may be the chair or somebody on the committee, especially if you know somebody, or it could be a staff member who's working in the room and mentors and sponsors again who may know what the etiquette is. The next thing you'll need to understand is the process of how to get on a committee.
In different organizations these selections happen in different ways. Now in some places you may be able to submit your name and they may require a statement or an area of expertise or some background as well as your level of interest. In this situation there are often designated windows of time to apply and it's important to know when these occur so you know when to submit your application.
In other cases, people are appointed by a nominating committee or by leadership. In cases like this, having mentors and sponsors can go a long way to getting on your desired committee. Alternatively, you can also make the effort to meet the chair and or members of the nominating committee.
This is also an opportunity where just raising your hand and talking to the chair or showing up in a meeting can be really valuable for you to get on the committee the next time. Now once you are serving on a committee, I also recommend that you volunteer for existing initiatives that align with your area of interest. They help you tell your story.
This is your chance to make your mark, so look at the opportunities. See what work the committee is already doing, what's open, and see if there's some subcommittee or initiative that really fits with your niche or which you would feel really passionate about. Now if your area of focus is not on the agenda, this is also an opportunity to raise your hand and to volunteer to address an area that may be a gap.
I also recommend you put your hand up during brainstorming sessions or discussions about new business and recognize that while your idea may not make the committee agenda for this year, oftentimes it'll help people think about whether or not it's a topic to consider for the future. It also helps them understand that this is your area of interest. It may also be that this isn't the right committee.
You may need to think about whether you need to create a different committee or move into a different one in order to be able to work in your area of interest. Now I've mentioned a few times the importance of raising your hand. This is an easy way for other people in the room to know who you are and that you're someone who's there to help.
Even if you're introvert, this is a pretty unthreatening environment to put yourself out there. You're going to get to know the people in the room and you're going to be working with them and hopefully they're in an area where you have some common overlap. Now once you do volunteer, I'm again going to tell you to do the work.
There are a lot of people who join the committee. There are fewer people who raise their hands and even fewer who actually get the work done. Now communication and follow-through are also important.
If you can't complete something on time, make sure you communicate effectively and early if possible to both the staff folks and the other physician volunteers. You want to be able to understand what your time frame might look like and you want them to understand what your limitations might be or if you just need help. And I promise that if you're the person who finishes the tasks, especially if you're a good communicator, you will be asked again and again and this is the kind of thing that leads you towards leadership roles and will absolutely raise your profile.
I also want to mention that membership on a committee can be an opportunity to drive change. You may be able to recommend initiatives that move the specialty and this is especially useful if you focus your recommendations on your area of interest and tie these to your area of knowledge. Leadership in this area can help establish your reputation as an innovative thought leader.
And throughout this journey, I want to continue to emphasize you should maintain the same focus that I talked about in the last podcast about establishing your niche. Do not get involved with topics that are far outside your area of expertise until you're later in your career. While other intriguing things will definitely come up, I suggest you really select those that fit you most closely with your area of expertise because your time and energy is limited and you want to put it where you make the most impact.
I recommend you focus where you have the most opportunity to show people who you are and what your story is. Navigating the complexities of committee participation can be challenging, but the payoffs can be immense. These range from expanding your professional network to shaping your field and I recommend you embrace these opportunities and watch as your influence and impact grow.
I also want to make sure you don't forget to enjoy yourself, network, and make friends. This is really an opportunity to find like-minded people who are frequently those who will spend time with at meetings. They also often become natural collaborators for future research projects or site investigators for your next clinical trial or you become theirs.
If you're interested in learning more about getting and succeeding on a committee, please go to my blog at medicalmentorcoaching.com backslash blog or if you're interested in our checklist that pulls these recommendations together, please DM me at Instagram or Facebook or LinkedIn with the word Niche, N-I-C-H-E, and we'll send it along. Thank you for listening and I look forward to talking to you next week.
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