How I Teach
“ How I Teach ” is ASH Clinical News ’ forum for sharing best practices in teaching hematology to medical students , residents , and fellows . Subjects provide insight into teaching and modeling clinical practice ( history-taking , the physical exam , informed consent , giving bad news ), successful research mentoring , disease-specific tips , or more general advice . In this issue , we highlight the work of this year ’ s ASH Mentor Awards recipients : Ronald Hoffman , MD , and Oliver Press , MD , PhD .
PAYING IT FORWARD
Ronald Hoffman , MD
Why did you become a mentor ? I became a mentor because I was awed by the individuals I was fortunate enough to consider as my own mentors . Mentorship was my way of giving back : I wanted to do for others what was done for me and pass on the lessons I learned .
Who are your role models in mentorship ? As a student at the New York University School of Medicine , I took a hematology course organized by Robert Silber , MD , and Simon Karpatkin , MD , that captured my imagination . It hooked me on the discipline of hematology , which seemed to be a perfect marriage of pathology and clinical medicine . The teaching was outstanding , incorporating personalized instruction during laboratory sessions .
My time at New York University put me in contact with many outstanding academic physicians , and I quickly realized that I wanted to follow in their footsteps . The challenges and surprises of academic medicine best suited my personality .
I owe much of my early success to the efforts of two individuals : Ralph Zalusky , MD , and Esmail Zanjani , PhD , with whom I worked as a fellow at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine .
Dr . Zalusky made hematology an exciting discipline . When going over cases and reading marrows with fellows , he asked direct questions and had high standards . He had a fantastic wit and , best of all , was an expert joke-teller . Dr . Zanjani introduced me to the laboratory and taught me how to pipette . Most importantly , he introduced me to hematopoiesis and gave me the freedom to use his laboratory to explore hematologic diseases . He was a free spirit who taught me that work could be fun – if it was the correct work .
I also worked for a year with Louis Wasserman , MD , a legendary figure in American hematology . During that critical year , I worked in the laboratory and made daily rounds with him as he saw patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms . The rounds featured enlightening discussions about the group of diseases and their likely origin at the stem-cell level ; that was where I realized that I could apply my growing interest in hematopoiesis to clinical medicine by focusing on those hematologic malignancies . Dr . Wasserman was a tough and gruff taskmaster , and he lit a fire under me . He taught me how to truly care for patients at a personal level . His passion was contagious , and he also taught me to appreciate art – his interest outside of work .
After fellowship , I was recruited to the hematology section at Yale University by Bernard Forget , MD , who was just beginning his tenure as section head . Dr . Forget offered a primer on achieving success in academic medicine : He helped me set up my laboratory , hire my technician , and write my papers . He widened my perspective of how high-quality laboratory research could impact patient care , and he insisted I submit grant after grant to fund my research . He was a mentor and friend who was there for me in the good times and bad . Seeing him with his wonderful family also made me appreciate the importance of such a foundation .
Because my work with Dr . Forget introduced me to a steady stream of talented fellows to work in my laboratory , he also indirectly showed me the benefits of mentorship : The successes of those fellows brought me a degree of joy that frequently exceeded what my individual work brought me .
What qualities make a great mentor ? Each trainee has his or her own unique set of strengths and weaknesses . Mentors need to identify and nurture those strengths to best guide mentees down a focused path toward excellence .
“ It [ can be ] difficult for trainees to confidently make long-term plans . Mentors should serve as resources to assure them that there is a path forward . I continue to believe that the good guys win in the end !“
As mentors , we also need to identify individuals whose careers are not going to be enhanced by working in our programs . By no means does this does mean they are less talented ; it means that they just aren ’ t a good fit . Encouraging such individuals to consider alternative opportunities can be tough , but upfront honesty benefits everyone involved .
How has your approach to mentoring changed over the years ? My method of mentoring has evolved as our society and the culture of medicine have changed . My experiences working in academia , industry , and clinical practice during my career exposed me to the wide variety of career opportunities available to today ’ s trainees – many of which were not always apparent to me at the beginning of my career .
92 ASH Clinical News December 2017