By Jonathan Sherbino (@sherbino)
This week I’ve been discussing (unsolicited) advice from other CEs. Tuesday, I shared tips from Clinician Educators about how they maintain their abilities and advance their careers. Today, I want to share an edited list of advice for a junior CE just starting their practice (i.e. fellowship / graduate training just completed, 6 months into first CE position). Apparently, I touched a nerve. The list was a big, so I’ve edited it to a manageable size.
“Say no. Say no again. Only say yes to things that advance career goals.”
“Wait 24 hours before you make a decision about accepting or declining an opportunity”
“Never be comfortable – try new things, new roles that create or even demand new skills.”
“Ask smart people for consults.” …and “Do consults for others.”
“Write yourself clear to a new understanding.” (paraphrasing Dale Dauphinee)
“Be clear about how your institution factors [your] activities into academic promotion. Align your CE activities with [your] other academic roles.”
“Run.”
“Find a mentor or two or three, and leave room for more later. Make sure some are not in your department or in your institution.”
“Get a colleague at the same stage to peer-mentor.”
“Make sure that the first 10 CE things you do are over-the-top superlative in outcome to establish yourself.”
“Do not neglect your family or yourself.”
“Amortize your student loans for a longer time cause this is not the path to riches.”
“Quit if you don’t seriously enjoy it.”
“Continue to do work and opportunities will continue to work.”
Do you have another suggestion to add? Share it below.
Image JD Hancock via flickr under Creative Commons License CC2.0
