The Role of Mentorship in Career Decisions

Maybe you formally view yourself as a mentor or maybe you don’t, but at some point, just about all of us unwittingly play that role in our careers.

The Request for Guidance

Let’s say, for example, a nurse practitioner or physician assistant reaches out and asks you to meet for lunch. They’re considering a career change, a few opportunities have come to fruition, and they want your best advice for evaluating a job offer. You say yes, but on the drive there, you realize you’re not sure if you’ll be able to help them figure out if it’s a good fit. To help suss out some strategies for helping a colleague – or yourself! – determine the next best path forward, we sat down with several of our top CME Conference speakers for their insights.

The Importance of Self-Reflection

What must come first, many speakers urged, is to encourage anyone considering a job change to do some serious self-reflection.

Listening First: A Key Strategy

With that in mind, Victor Czerkasij, a leading expert in dermatology, advises that the first step should always be of the “mouth closed, ears open” variety. “Too many people are talking but few are listening,” he said. “I’ve found that one of the smartest – and most illuminating – tactics in a situation like this is to ask your colleague six or seven meaningful questions before you tell anyone anything.

Meaningful Questions for Insight

“The questions can cover a wide range of topics – their past history, goals, experiences, inspirations, fears, or hopes – and the answers will most certainly inform your responses. Perhaps more importantly, you’ll help them dig deep and learn more about themselves, which is the most important step before making any life change,” he added.

Following Your Why

“I would tell them to ‘follow your why’,” agreed Karen Myrick, an associate professor of orthopedics, while Jen Carlquist, an ER and cardiac physician assistant, has a similar go-to question. “Knowing what you like and what inspires your happiness is what will make going to work every day a choice you’re happy to make. For me, that means going where I am serving people, and choosing an organization where I feel my work will be appreciated. That’s worth more than the money!”

Evaluating Previous Job Experiences

Tracey Mallik-Searle, a nurse practitioner specializing in pain medicine, recommends – especially for an APP with a couple of years in practice – making a list of the things they liked and disliked most about previous jobs. “The exercise of thinking where you want to see yourself in five years can help guide next steps,” she added, “as would asking the prospective employer if you could shadow them for a day or two to get a feel for the work environment. Spend time with another APP in the practice, your new collaborating physician (if applicable), and the manager of the clinic and ask them all individually to describe the role and responsibilities of the position that you’re interested in. If the answers are compatible, that’s a good sign. If you receive three completely different interpretations, then it’s predictive of possible conflict or unclear expectations moving forward, and I’d pay attention to that.”

Discovering Work Culture

“The best way to learn more about the work culture,” agrees Diana Isaacs, the Remote Monitoring and CGM Program Coordinator and Endocrinology Clinical Pharmacy Specialist at the Cleveland Clinic Diabetes Center, “is talking to people who are currently working at the clinic or who worked there relatively recently. Find out what you would be doing day to day, and ask about opportunities for career growth and flexibility from the people who have worked within the culture.”

The Importance of Research

Similarly, old school research is important. Christopher Hemmer, a nurse practitioner specializing in orthopedics, suggests looking at everything from how long their practice has been in business to what their online reviews say (look for common threads!). “Find out if the organization is expanding or replacing someone that is leaving,” he added. “If the latter, why did they leave? What is the reimbursement schedule – hourly or salary? Is reimbursement or bonuses based on collected revenue? If so, what is the collection rate and what is the overhead? Compare what the requirements for the position include, such as on-call, hours, rounds, number of patients per day, do you get assistance from MA, which EHR is used, or transcription or typing notes. All of these details make or break long-term satisfaction, and they’re all worth researching and assessing if they’re a good fit for your priorities.”

Making Informed Decisions

Lastly, “the grass is not always greener,” reminded Terri Nagy, a physician assistant specializing in dermatology. “The goal is to find the position that has more pros than cons. I recommend a second set of eyes to look at the contract, whether it is a seasoned PA or an attorney, or both.  You want someone to ask you the tough questions to make sure you are considering all that is being offered.”

This article is brought to you by Skin, Bones, Hearts & Private Parts, a leading provider of In-Person, Virtual and Online CME for Nurse Practitioners, Registered Nurses, Physician Assistants, and Physicians. Learn more.