Career development for academic
medicine—a nine step strategy
Make sure your career goes to plan by using Linda
Pololi’s innovative form of career development guidance
“Self-reflection is the school of wisdom”
Baltasar Gracian, 1601-58,
Spanish philosopher and writer
Academic medicine depends upon talented and vibrant
faculty members, but reports of difficulties in recruiting
to academic posts in the United Kingdom,
1
and career
dissatisfaction in the United States,
2
have led to calls for
action to improve careers in academic medicine. Sup-
porting the professional and personal development of
the medical faculty is fundamental to strengthening and
renewing achievements in patient care, teaching, and
research.
Mentoring
Most faculty members report a lack of effective mentoring,
particularly for under-represented groups such as
women.
3
The academic development plan (ADP) was
developed by the author for use in the mentoring pro-
grammes of a designated National Center of Leadership in
Academic Medicine.
4
The ADP was very positively evalu-
ated by two cohorts of medical faculty who used it as part
of a peer mentoring programme over eight months.
Academic development plan
The ADP provides a coherently organised written plan for
academic advancement, which recognises the aspira-
tions of faculty members as well as the needs of the
departments where they work. ADPs help faculty mem-
bers to define and describe intellectual focus, clarify
personal values, and long term career goals, and identify
areas where skill development is necessary
An effective ADP outlines a pathway for each profes-
sional domain (such as teaching, clinical care, research,
or administration) and involves careful consideration of
personal aspirations, interests, strengths, values, priori-
ties, sources of fiscal support, current and desired roles,
and programme and department priorities. Making
choices that are consistent with individual values under-
pins the entire process. In other studies, values have
been recognised as being important
56
but little work has
focused on relating values to actions.
78
The ADP can be used either individually, in a group
setting, or within a mentoring dyad where trust has been
established. Such a dyad could be either a traditional
senior/junior partnership, or a co-mentoring relationship
between peers. The process is applicable to faculty
members at any stage of their career. By completing
their own ADP, senior faculty members not only derive
personal benefit but also prepare to facilitate the process
for junior colleagues.
Outlined below is a description of each of the steps to
be taken when formulating an ADP. It is important to
keep a written record of each step because writing helps
to clarify thinking, and serves as a record and memory
aid. The ADP is a long term, evolving process that can be
added to over time.
Step one—clarify your governing values
These are the deeply held values and standards that
govern all aspects of your life and which act as guiding
principles for choices, decisions, and behaviours.
910
Some examples are truthfulness, enjoyment, responsi-
bility for children, intellectual challenge, social justice,
financial wellbeing, kindness, respect for diversity, free-
dom, and security. Typically, an individual’s values are
acquired through interaction with family, peers, and
social systems.
11
In our experience of working in medical
schools, most faculty members have not taken the
opportunity to articulate their own governing values.
Prepare a list of your governing values
This first critical step will build self awareness and an
understanding of your values, which is fundamental to
starting your ADP.
Write a list of what you value most. This first step
may take a few hours. Try to find a period of uninter-
rupted time in a pleasant, non-work setting to do this.
Try to avoid identifying what you think you should value,
but concentrate instead on what’s important to you. A
person’s values can be inferred from their behaviour, so
if you are having trouble identifying your values, it may
be helpful to think back to an important decision you
have made and try to elucidate which values motivated
you in the choices you made at that time.
Write a clarifying paragraph for each value.
Step two—prioritise your values
These questions may help you:
● What do I value the most?
● What does my conscience tell me are the highest
priorities in life?
● Based upon my experience and knowledge, what
do I consider to be of greatest worth?
● If I could live by only three or four values, what
would they be?
● From a long term perspective, which will have the
highest reward for me—my family, friends, work,
and/or profession?
● How do I wish to be remembered by my family and
by my colleagues?
● What would I want others to say about me at my
funeral? Write your own obituary.
Step three—identify your strengths
It is important to identify your strengths rather than
focusing on skills you do not possess (the latter can
deplete enthusiasm for the process). Write down the
individual strengths and abilities that have helped you to
get where you are now, and identify your special talents.
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Step four—consistent with your values, where
do you want to be 10 years from now?
● What is your dream for yourself?
● What type of position are you ultimately seeking?
● Which pathway in academic medicine is most
exciting for you? Where do you want to place your
intellectual focus?
● How do you want to focus your career? Do you
want to concentrate on research, clinical practice,
medical administration, scholarship, teaching, or
some combination of these?
● Do you want to be a famous researcher, a
department chairperson, a dean, a great teacher, a
great humanitarian, a compassionate doctor, a
devoted parent?
● Define the position you want to be in 10 years
from now without considering how you will get
there. Is this consistent with your governing
values? It has to be. You can craft your career to
realise your own chosen legacy
● Write down your dream for yourself.
Step five—identify your one, three, and five
year goals
With your 10 year trajectory defined, it’s now helpful to
identify logical intermediate goals that will be important
in the realisation of your long term aspirations. Clarifying
these goals will also help you evaluate and respond to
each new request or opportunity. Having carefully
thought out goals will help you to differentiate between
the opportunities that reflect your values, and comple-
ment the choices you have made, and those that are not
contributory or are in conflict.
Write them down.
Step six—what skills or tasks do you need
to develop to achieve your one year goals?
You now need to go through the process of developing
strategies to achieve your goals for the next year. Are
there certain tasks you need to do to meet a certain
goal? List the skills and tasks you wish to address in this
first year of your plan.
Step seven—write a learning contract for
each skill or task
You will now make a learning contract
12
with yourself for
each of the skills or tasks you want to develop. Formu-
lating a learning contract will help you plan how you will
accomplish your learning and goals. Use a separate
learning contract form for each skill or task (learning
objective).
Guidelines for completing the learning
contract
● Learning objective—write down the skill or task
you wish to address at the top of the form. Make
the statement in terms of the outcome, or end
result, rather than the process you will use to get
there
● Write the date by which time you intend to
accomplish the learning
● Action steps. List detailed sequential steps for how
to achieve this learning objective (for example, five
small group teaching sessions, Medline search,
enrol in a faculty development workshop on using
statistics, find some collaborators)
● Target date. Enter a target date for completion of
each action step. Note dates in your calendar as
reminders
● Resources. Think through what you will need for
each action step
● Evaluation. How will you know that you have
accomplished your learning objective?
● Verification. What measurable and observable
evidence could you show to verify that you have
achieved the learning objective (for example,
student evaluations of teaching session, peer
evaluation, research analysis, calendar showing
dinner with the family three times a week for six
months)?
Step eight—involve your supervisor
At this stage, it would be wise to make an appointment
to meet with the head of your department to discuss
your draft plan, and ask how your plans fit in with those
of the division and department. This is vital information
as you are much more likely to receive help and support
for your ADP if your interests match those of the unit. If
you find that your plans do not fit in with the unit’s
priorities you will need to reassess your position. Be
prepared to negotiate goals, ways of achieving your
learning objectives, and your timeline. Ask your super-
visor to help you achieve your goals and try and have
these integrated into your annual expectations within the
department.
Step nine—repeat steps six and seven for
your three and five year goals
As you approach the last quarter of your first year on
your ADP, draw up the list of skills and tasks that you
need to develop to achieve your goals for the next three
and five years. You are now well on the way to achieving
a planned career that will be consistent with your values
and fulfil your dreams. j
Linda Pololi senior scientist and resident scholar
Brandeis University Women’s Studies Research Center,
Massachusetts, USA
I gratefully acknowledge my colleague Sharon Knight of
East Carolina University; David Kern, of Johns Hopkins
University Faculty Development Program, and the
Psychiatry Department of the University of Rochester
School of Medicine and Dentistry.
Competing interests: None declared.
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paradigm?. J Gen Int Med 2005;20:866-70.
4 Pololi L, Knight SK, Frankel R. Helping faculty realize their dreams: an
innovative collaborative mentoring program in academic medicine.
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6 Judge TA, Bretz RD. Effects of work values on job choice decisions. J
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1992;48:109-24.
8 Patton W. The future of career. Collins A, Young RA, editors. Cam-
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11 Feather NT. Values in education and society. New York: Free Press,
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12 Knowles MS. Using learning contracts. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Publishers, 1986.
tips on...
Applying for
grants
Every year thousands of doctors and
medical students across the country
apply for research or elective
funding. Here’s how to ensure your
application tops the pile.
Before applying
x Check you qualify for a grant.
x Make sure you have enough time
to prepare your application before
the deadline.
x Never assume that you don’t
stand a chance of succeeding; this
will only happen if you don’t
apply.
When applying
x Address your application to the
correct person.
x Include a formal covering letter
stating your position and why you
should be considered for funding.
x Type your application in black ink,
using a recognised font on white
paper.
x Send an up to date CV, with the
contact details of two referees.
x Enclose a detailed outline of your
proposal, including the name of
your supervisor, if possible.
x Include a letter of support from
your tutor.
x Consider an outline of proposed
costs.
x Run your application past your
tutor before sending it off.
x Offer to submit a formal report or
present your findings upon your
return.
After applying
x Carry on applying for funding
from other sources—don’t hold
your breath for any one
institution.
x Keep a list of the institutions you
have applied to, in order to keep
track of application numbers and
successes.
x If you are successful, make sure
you thank your funding source
upon your return.
These tips were compiled when
reviewing applications for student
elective grants for the London
Association of the Medical Women’s
Federation (MWF; www.
medicalwomensfederation.org.uk). j
Shreelata Datta executive committee
member
Medical Women’s Federation,
Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9HX
Penny Law London Association
secretary
career focus
BMJcareers 28 JANUARY 2006 39
