Career Advice from SBM Consultants: “Do a few Things Well”

Education, Training, and Career Development (ETCD) Council corner

Amy G. Huebschmann, MD, MS, ETCD Council chair

Welcome to the fourth “ETCD Council corner” segment.  In each issue of Outlook, look to the ETCD Council corner for information related to our mission, which is to provide Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) members with opportunities and support to enhance their training and career development throughout all phases of their careers in behavioral medicine.

Coming soon at the SBM 2018 annual meeting, the ETCD Council will be providing an opportunity for all SBM members to receive tailored career advice, as we host our 4th annual forum for members to discuss career paths to success in a small group format. This year, we will be highlighting our SBM Consultation program. SBM Consultants offer many services, including:

• Career advice, such as reviewing your CV before you go up for promotion
• High-level input on a specific aims page that is relevant to their work
• Recommendations for possible consultants for a specific research method

To highlight the career advisory expertise of our SBM Consultants, the ETCD Council is hosting a special “Meet the Consultants” session at the SBM Annual Meeting.  In anticipation of the career guidance that will be provided in this session, we asked some of our current SBM Consultants to share some career advice that has stuck with them over the years.  Here are their responses:

• “Do a few things well”
• “Get a good mentor and nurture that relationship”
• "Take a deep breath" - this is a paraphrase of an experience I had with my graduate advisor after I went to her in a panic about a dissertation data collection issue. Challenges are common in academia and it's important to remember to take a deep breath and focus rather than constantly react from event to event
• "Breathe and persist" — keeping calm and carrying on are the keys to maintaining your momentum in your career
• “Do what you love to do with people that you enjoy working alongside.”  Both parts of the advice are valuable since working with a great team inspires so much more creativity in the area that you are passionate about and can make you excited to go into work every day.
• “Use highlighters to identify key points” — this is true in its traditional use of fluorescent highlighters when reading textbooks/articles, but is also relevant for the judicious use of bold and/or underlining text effects when you are conveying key information in papers, manuscripts, and grant applications.

Interested in more career advice?

If you are interested in contacting an SBM Consultant, go to this website and login with your SBM member information: http://www.sbm.org/membership/members/consultation

If you are interested in more information about the “Meet the Consultants” session on Friday, April 13, 2018 from 3:30-4:45 pm, please e-mail ahahn@sbm.org.  Please plan to RSVP in advance if you are interested in this session, as there will only be limited walk-in slots available.