Episode 80: Early career pathways to education leadership

In this episode of the Kinked Wire, Lei Yu, MD, the ECS treasurer, speaks with former SIR president Parag J. Patel, MD, FSIR, on early career pathways for education leadership, how to overcome imposter syndrome and use the best of your time, and how to navigate your place and identity in the early career days.

Read an excerpt from the interview on finding growth opportunities and overcoming imposter syndrome.

Dr. Yu: You have been always very actively involved in training residents and fellows. When did you realize that education would be a very central part of your career?

Dr. Patel: Good question. As an eager young IR—and I think many can relate to this—after finishing training, it’s a long road. You want to take care of patients and you want to be impactful to the group you work with. I felt a sense of ownership of the practice that I was joining, and a duty to give back in some capacity.

But I also knew that on day on, or even after a year, there was no way I would be an established expert in anything. I had senior partners who were extremely qualified and capable and had built the practice. The thing I could help with from almost day one was the trainees, though. I could look after the new fellows that were coming behind me and in the years to follow and help organize the educational program to better suit what trainees needed. I was in an ideal situation, having just gone through training.

So that was the first thing I could do beyond just showing up to my clinical duties, and the way I found to give back to my practice. Obviously, I chose an academic career, so this avenue isn’t always available in private practice. But I think it’s important to find the ways that you can give back and support your colleagues outside of the standard run of business. Maybe it’s overseeing trainees, but maybe it’s practice management, or building multidisciplinary programs, or attending conferences or tumor boards. There are a lot of needs in a practice, especially on the administrative side of things. For me, the one that fit most naturally was education.

At the time, I wasn’t interested in trying to run the educational programs, but I did offer suggestions on how to streamline and organize, as well as how to reestablish our goals and expectations. It might sound simple and mundane, but it was something that my partners didn’t have the time to take on.

Dr. Yu: It’s not uncommon for early career IRs to have a sense of imposter syndrome when they come out of training. How would you advise young IRs to overcome this feeling?

Dr. Patel: Well, first of all, we all need to accept that imposter syndrome is real, and most of us have experienced it. It’s also understandable; you have just finished your training, you are now an IR, board eligible or board certified, and it feels almost audacious to say “I’m equal to all other IRs and all my colleagues in practice.” It certainly felt that way for me, especially as I had partners who had 10+ years of knowledge and experience on me.

I did not have the same knowledge as my partners, but I did know how to relate to people and trainees, and I knew I had the time available to dedicate to help trainees who may be struggling with techniques or lacking some confidence. Volume and experience are something that takes time to acquire, but everyone will eventually acquire it. So, it just takes time and acceptance that everyone has felt this way at some point. The only way to establish yourself and gain confidence is to just do the work.

Dr. Yu: What experiences helped you prepare to become a program director?

Dr. Patel: As I mentioned, I definitely did not have the intention of becoming a program director when I first started. I simply wanted to help build the vascular practice and take on some of the more complex interventions, as well as supporting the growth of the interventional oncology practice. But I knew that some additional organization in the education program would take that program to the next level, and I felt there was an opportunity there. So, I provided feedback from my own training experiences, and researched the strengths of other programs to see what we could implement. We were already a strong program, but I thought, “Why not make it a goal to be one of the best?”

There’s no ranking system that will tell you where your program falls, but if you strive to create something good, you’ll get there. We kept pushing for that goal each year, and now, 20 years later, we’ve developed a consistently strong training program that we’re very proud of. Because of that early commitment, when it was time for a new program director, I was already the natural person to take over.

I think it’s important to emphasize that when I started this effort, I didn’t recognize or realize the path it would take me on. Looking back, however, I realize how impactful it was that I was willing to do the work without the title. While I was hoping for an opportunity to establish myself clinically or within leadership, I was often doing the work of a program director without the title. But I didn’t seek that title, because I still needed to establish myself.

It was, perhaps, a way to overcome the imposter syndrome. I hope other young IRs will see how important it is to grow comfortable and willing to do the work, while understanding that the titles will eventually come.