Expert offers method of reflection to guide women in medicine with career changes

Key takeaways:

• A professor developed the GIFT method as a way of reflecting to help her decide on a career move.
• The method suggests considering geography, finances, career transformation and more.

CHICAGO — When considering a career move, women in medicine should reflect on narratives about their institutions and lives, according to a presenter at the Women in Medicine Summit.

Monica Vela, MD, FACP, professor of medicine and director of the Hispanic Center of Excellence at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, described her experience as she considered a major change in her career.

Vela, who is also an associate editor for JAMA Network Open, said that the change made her “get very serious and reflective,” and ultimately develop a process of reflection called the GIFT method.

“I call it the GIFT method because it became a gift to myself, and now, as a mentor, I use this method of reflection for my mentees and it becomes a gift for them,” she said.

The method includes four components:

• Geographic narrative;
• Institutional narrative;
• Financial narrative; and
• Transformation (al) ability narrative.

Vela said she considered geographic factors such as potential isolation from family and friends, whether her mental and physical health would benefit from being in a new region, and if there was another area in which her language, culture and other intersecting identities could add value.

She additionally questioned whether her current institution’s mission aligned with her own, if her personal or professional growth had stalled, if her work was valued, if she felt fulfilled, and if she was facing forms of oppression, such as discrimination, bias or gaslighting.

Next was the financial narrative, in which Vela considered if her salary and benefits had kept up with the economy, her expertise and her needs, as well as what the reaction had been when she previously asked for changes and the possibility of future opportunities.

“It turns out that none of the first three letters — the ‘G’ or the ‘I’ or the ‘F’ — were my issues,” Vela said. “I was looking for something different.”

So, she asked herself if she had the ability to transform and change — from a clinician to an educator or an educator to a researcher — or if there was anything new to explore.

“Your career is bigger than the walls of your institution or the walls created by anyone else,” Vela said. “You don’t need to climb every ladder. You can be intentional and thoughtful about what makes sense for you, what will bring you joy and what’s going to transform the people around you.”