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responsibility to deliver the worst.
I appreciate the balance be-
tween our great potential to cure
these horrible diseases and the
respect for how destructive they
can be to patients’ lives. There is
something about the balance of
those two extremes – being at the
intersection of those two dynamics
– that appeals to me. Every patient
interaction is unique, and it’s never
monotonous ... but I could get
used to staying out of the intensive
care unit and just giving good
news all the time.
What advice or knowledge
would you pass on to early-
career doctors and trainees?
I’ve been fortunate to work with
great mentors and some giants
in the field, so anything I have to
share with younger doctors comes
from what I observed my mentors
doing.
Once I became a fellow,
Beverly Mitchell, MD, was the
best mentor, leader, person that
I could imagine. She was incred-
ibly encouraging and supportive,
but – and this has always been
the most important thing for
me – she truly led by example.
She would never ask anyone to
do anything that she wouldn’t do
herself; that’s an important lesson
in being an effective leader.
Stanley Schrier, MD, is an
incredible resource and arguably
knows more about hematology
than anyone who has ever lived.
Still, while I was working with him
in the clinic or accompanying him
at the microscope, he never hid
when he didn’t understand some-
thing or didn’t know the answer
to a trainee’s question. To hear Dr.
Schrier say “I don’t know” is an
incredible thing, because it teaches
everyone that it’s okay to admit
this, and it’s important for early-
career folks to hear someone they
respect and admire say this.
Also, since coming to the
University of Colorado, I’ve had
the privilege to work with Craig
Jordan, PhD, as my division
chief. He’s supported my career
and helped me grow in ways that
I could never have imagined. He,
along with my clinical division
chief Clayton Smith, MD, dem-
onstrates extraordinary leadership
with their ability to bring together
many different people and per-
sonalities with competing views
and interests. I admire (and aspire
to) their skill for consensus-
building and getting the best out
of everybody.
Mentoring the next generation
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of clinicians and researchers is
crucial, and something we should
prioritize. It can be tough because
I measure myself against the gi-
ants I worked with and work with;
I hope in time I can get closer to
where they are.
What do you see as the
challenges to becoming a
great mentor?
There are many challenges. The
chief one, of course, is time. And
then there’s the actual work of
making mentoring a priority; every-
one recognizes the importance of
mentorship, but when the rubber
meets the road, it’s a hard thing to
do. Very few people do it well, and
I wish I could do it better.
In a typical day, what is your
rose and what is your thorn?
Documentation and anything
medical record–related are the
thorns – those are never fun. What
I look forward to the most each
day is giving good news, or if that’s
not possible, providing hope to
patients.
Where did you learn to
talk with patients and have
difficult conversations, like
giving bad news?
It’s something that you learn as you
observe the people you work with
and admire. It also is an ongoing
effort; it starts during
training, but it re-
quires constant work,
refinement, and prac-
tice. Every day, I am a
part of conversations
that can go well or
not, and it’s important
to learn from each one
and ask, “What went
well?” or “What hap-
pened to make things
go off the rails?”
Dr. Pollyea on a recent hiking trip (top) and spending time with
his father in the 1980s (bottom).
For me, it comes
back to the golden rule:
Do unto others as you
would have them do unto
would only work in the setting of
you. That means putting
fiction.
myself in the other person’s situ-
It’s hard to find the time to
ation and thinking about how I
devote to those interests with three
would want to be treated. What
young kids – ages 9, 7, and 4. My
would I want to hear? How would
time outside of work is mostly
I want the conversation to go? It’s
spent trying to keep up with them
a simple and old-fashioned prin-
ciple, but one that is valuable when and my wife, who is a graphic
designer. So, that means getting
having tough discussions with our
them to all the activities that kids
patients or their caregivers.
are involved in and chasing them
around; it gets busy, but the best,
Are there any hobbies or
most fun type of busy.
interests that you’d want to
I also try to spend as much
explore if you had the time?
time outside as possible – whether
I love to travel and would love to
do more of that. I also love writing that’s hiking, running, biking, or
going to the mountains … It’s what
and I’ve often thought about writ-
ing a novel. It’s only in my head for I loved about being a camp coun-
now, but some of the things that go selor when I was younger, and that
hasn’t changed much. ●
on in our world and in academia
are so bizarre and funny that they
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