Choosing projects requires balancing interest with professional benefit
In the world of medicine, especially academic-focused careers, it can be difficult to navigate through a sea of opportunities and determine which projects may provide the best outcomes, both personally and professionally.
Healio spoke with Merry-Jennifer Markham, MD, FACP, FASCO, professor and interim chief of the division of hematology and oncology at University of Florida and associate director for medical affairs at University of Florida Health Cancer Center, about her criteria for choosing what to pursue.
“When saying yes to projects or opportunities, it’s important to remember that a yes to one thing is often a no to something else — or should be a no to something else,” she said. “We can't do all the things presented to us, and it's important to focus your best efforts at doing one or a select few things well rather than doing 50 things mediocre.”
Markham proposed two major criteria: Decide not only if you have the time to do something, but the time to do it well, and whether the opportunity lines up with where you want to be in the future.
“My primary clinical focus is on women with gynecologic cancer. If a project or opportunity is presented that is in line with that, I am more likely to do it,” she said. “My own personal dilemma is that I’m interested in a lot of things, so it can be easy for me to say yes to too many proposals.”
Markham said if she is interested in a project or presentation opportunity but cannot commit the time or “bandwidth,” she will recommend more junior faculty whom she knows will do the job right and can benefit from the opportunity.
“If it is something I want to pursue but don’t know if I have the time ahead of deadline, I will ask if there’s a possibility of a delay or an extension,” she said. “Generally, depending on the opportunity, people are willing. Obviously, delaying an association meeting is not possible, but an extension on other project deadlines may be possible.”
Markham said she is particularly interested in social media as an avenue to participate in virtual events, as well as professional networking.
“Social media projects abound right now, so it’s important to determine whether the projects are novel and whether they are actually of interest to people,” she said. “Physicians may get tied up in the idea of a research project that is of interest to them but may have a limited audience for the work. Whether it’s social media or not, you need to understand what this project means to people other than yourself.”
Additionally, she noted that it is important to be involved in social media for professional purposes — to learn the nuances of platforms such as Twitter— before responding yes to projects involving social media.
“Ideally, the perfect project is one you have interest in and helps you to get where you’re going, whether that’s on a personal or professional level,” Markham said. “Networking is important, too. Sometimes I’ve taken on projects that I may have had somewhat of a lower interest in, but it was a great opportunity to work with certain people, and the benefit of working with those people outweighs any other negative.”
For more information:
Merry-Jennifer Markham, MD, FACP, FASCO, is a member of Healio’s Women in Oncology Peer Perspective Board. She can be reached at: merry.markham@medicine.ufl.edu.
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