Oncologist advises ‘do your homework’ when making career decisions
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When it comes to career development in the field of oncology, Nina Shah, MD, said one of the most important things is to “do your homework” about mentors, institutions and projects to make sure your interests align with what they can offer.
“Before you make any decision, set up a meeting with the people involved – just a brief, open-ended meeting,” Shah, professor of clinical medicine at University of California, San Francisco, told Healio. “When you are, for example, a fellow or junior faculty, you may think you’re interested in any project, but you owe it to yourself to make sure that you would be a good fit for a mentor or project and vice versa. I’m really glad I did that a couple of times at pivotal moments in my career because it led me to some very strong mentor relationships.”
Shah, whose clinical focus is multiple myeloma and research focus is immunotherapy and clinical trials for immunotherapy, said one of the most influential opportunities of her career was to work in a lab between residency and fellowship.
“That influenced me to know that I wanted to go into immunotherapy and hematologic malignancies,” she said.
Finding a female mentor can be difficult for women at some institutions, according to Shah, but organizations such as ASCO have been working to make it easier to connect.
“This is also one of the foci of the LEAD [Leadership, Empowerment and Development] Conference for Women that we put together,” said Shah, who serves as co-chair of the conference. “ASCO itself has the Women’s Networking Center, which has grown to be not just a place for people to meet up at ASCO, but also a committee that helps organize activities to connect women with each other.”
Shah also pointed to the Vaniam Group, an independent network of medical and scientific communications agencies that provides funding for the ASCO Young Investigator Award and developed the Women’s Leadership in Oncology movement, in addition to sponsoring LEAD.
“This cross-pollination pathway is one of the best ways for people to get advice,” Shah said. “Even though I had a female mentor when I was a fellow and junior faculty, I often reached out to people at other institutions because you want to get that 360-degree view.”
When it comes to picking a mentor, Shah said the most important characteristics include availability, receptibility and the ability to provide timely feedback.
“It can be difficult to gauge responsiveness when you first meet a mentor,” she said. “You should be able to see a pathway where you and the mentor could have an interactive relationship. Also, it works best when you have complementary interests. Don’t be afraid to be a little different from your mentor while you rely on his or her guidance.”
Another key to growing a career and professional relationships is to always be respectful, Shah added.
“No matter who a person is, what position they hold on your team or where you are on the team, you must always show respect,” she said. “There is no hierarchy in academic oncology — it’s all a matrix. We all need each other, and I find that teams work best when we have direct, open and respectful communication, so that nobody feels bad about something that didn’t work, and that each team member sees the good in others.”
Shah also said that, whether you’re a man or a woman, all career aspirations have to be embedded in your passion for the job and what you have experience doing.
“A lot of people might say they’re hesitant to suggest themselves as a potential leader or for a certain role because they’re afraid they won’t get it, but if you want to do it, that’s 50% of it. You have to look deeper than yourself and ask, ‘Do I want to do this job because it’s going to make me look better in the institution, or do I actually care about the mission of this job?’ If you’re fueled by the mission, you will most likely be successful.”
She added that women too often are hesitant to celebrate their own accomplishments; however, she is proud of the increasing number of women she has seen promote each other.
Shah said she finds no shame in self-promotion, but it should be done with humility and truth, always remembering the joint effort and to promote the whole team.
“I think oncology is just such a wonderful place to have a career, especially for women,” Shah said. “It combines the best of all worlds in medicine — science, investigation, enterprise and team building, as well as seeing people at their best and their worst, their saddest and happiest. That’s not just the patients. Everybody at work is a wheel of emotions and experiences. I feel privileged to be part of this field.”
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