18 Comments
Apr 6, 2023Liked by Adam Cifu, MD

Thank you for this

Expand full comment

Claude Wintner was my organic chemistry professor as well. Do you think there may be a correlation between bow ties and pedagogical genius?

Expand full comment

I have met few people more dedicated to education than my teachers at the University of Chicago. Truly a remarkable gang.

Expand full comment
Apr 1, 2023·edited Apr 1, 2023Liked by Adam Cifu, MD

Thanks, Adam. Although I was targeting medical schoo in collegel, I majored in Government at Harvard. I never had a personal relationship with a professor or graduate student and therefore no mentoring of any kind. Part of the problem was that I had learned shyness ("children are meant to be seen, not heard) in the 1950s. I was naturally compulsive and organized and had no intellectual difficulty in medical school but still had no real mentors. In my pediatric training, I never had the kind of nitty-gritty instruction in learning that Adam had. As a junior faculty member, I never got much mentoring and consequently I was never a good mentor to others. However, your stories prove that mentoring should be a critical part of intellectual maturation.

Expand full comment
Mar 31, 2023Liked by Adam Cifu, MD

Everyone needs a Dr. Wintner early on...preferably first semester, 10th grade.

Expand full comment

I so look forward to your Friday reflections, Adam. Your stories are relatable and authentic....two things so needed in medicine these days.

I came to medicine as a woman in her 40s becoming a L&D RN. So I mentored more than was mentored because of my life's experiences. I guess I looked the part. But being a mentor was one of life's greatest gifts. As another commenter wrote, I learned as much from the mentees as they did from me. A wonderful practice that has sadly gone by the wayside was when new interns came on the floor, they would spend several shifts following a seasoned RN. I loved getting my hands on those docs. I taught them how to gently touch a woman in labor and how to "read" her progress without intervention. They always said it was invaluable in the start of their careers as OB GYNs. Now retired, I greatly miss it....but the practice went away several years ago anyway.

I also love your dip into Greek mythology. If I remember correctly, Telemachus ended up marrying Circe who changed her status from goddess to mortal to live out her time with the love of her life. The quintessential love story!

Thanks for your post, keep 'em coming please.

Expand full comment

Depending on what profession, I believe there's a real lack of mentorship in many fields. When I graduated from college in 1982, the internship supervisor at a county psychiatric facility expressed that she didn't know what we (the students) were going to do, given the recession and lack of any available work at the time. Because I had worked in residential treatment full time while in college, I was hired as part time staff at a juvenile detention facility and later as a writer of felony pre-sentence investigations. In the PSI division, I was fortunate to be assigned to Tom Barbeau, a man who understood the backdoor workings of the court system, maintained solid relationships with judges and attorneys and really cared about the quality of the work we were doing. Because of his ethical treatment of the writers, the defendants and anyone associated with the work, and his determination to do the right thing in a very complex system, everyone under his supervision flourished. Unfortunately, the people above him weren't nearly as competent and in fact were jealous of his popularity. When he was dying of cancer, he asked me if I was going to apply for his job, truly a compliment, but agreed with me when I responded that there was no way these people would hire anyone with any independent thought. Tom was the reason I remained in the field and was able to continue to do thorough investigations for another few years, despite subsequent moves by unethical and unskilled people to over-simplify the process and produce shoddy, useless work. Regardless, I'm still proud of the righteous outcomes of many cases that were influenced by those of us who had the privilege of knowing Tom.

Expand full comment

Loved how your mentors helped you become a better you! I’ve been blessed to have several different mentors over the course of my life, but not more colorful than my late sponsor Jerry Campbell. The man got sober while he was on death row in Canada in 1963 for the murder of his wife, in a drunken black out. He was eventually paroled based on a technicality, and asked never to return to Canada again. I met him in 1999 and he guided my own sobriety for 20 years. He also helped shape my career, but he never really knew that... He was very old-school in his approach to sobriety, and I was able to combine his wisdom with treatment protocols that allowed me to help a great many people. I will never forget him; the man, with a seventh grade education, and a checkered past who became a lifesaver.

Expand full comment

Nice to see that mentoring is a big part of your career and that you acknowledged them. Of course, great mentors never do it for the acclaim. They remember what it was like when they were coming up and the people that helped them or the people that didn’t and they promised to never be like that when in the same position. I was fortunate to have a lot of mentors in the early part of my career but one that I always come back to was a Jesuit priest who was from Cuba. He and I had many long discussions about so many things when I was in college. He would point out qualities and traits that he said I possessed that would serve me well going forward. He never guided me into a particular career but instead we talked about what was important in living. I have no idea where he is now or if he is still alive but I remember our conversations and the impact they had on me. Five degrees later I have been privileged to teach medical students and residents and relish every student and every moment. Their experience and my part in their growth, however little it may be, is what motivates me every day. It is why I love being in medicine (the patients are also so important of course). All I ever ask of them is to become teachers and/or mentors when they are in position to do so. Thanks for the great reflections Adam.

Expand full comment
Mar 31, 2023Liked by Adam Cifu, MD

Adam. Great stuff. Funny I had high school mentors then a drop off until residency and especially fellowship and early practice. I learned from mentees as well.

My HS geometry teacher believed in me and would often say “it’s all attitude man!”

My fellowship director often chided me to be and do better. He nudged me. Both had similar attributes to my dad who expected best work product for the sake of the outcome for others and not as a means to achieve reward for self.

Expand full comment
Mar 31, 2023Liked by Adam Cifu, MD

Failing, but proceeding. Maybe that is one of the best experiences for a doctor.

Expand full comment