Career and Life Planning Guidebook for Medical Residents

R E A D : Goal Setting Goals in life and work are very important. Obviously, you have worked hard toward that impressive goal of completing medical training. Now you are fast approaching another milestone in your professional life and will need to establish new goals. At this stage of training, more than one goal associatedwith the job or fellowship search process is acceptable. Using the SMART criteria as a tool to create goals that make sense and provide focus will enable you to verbalize them in a way that is REALISTIC and TIMEBOUND. However, you should not confuse ACTION ITEMS with GOALS – they are different, though related, concepts. Action items are related to goals in that they are specific activities that you will need to complete to achieve what you have identified as your ultimate goal. SHARE your goals with the people in your mentorship network (i.e. program director, mentor and attending physicians) or your support network (i.e. colleagues, friends, family members) and get their opinions. Ask them to evaluate your goal(s) using the SMART criteria. Elicit feedback to see if your goals are relevant and realistic based on what you’ve described Do not short-change this task! When you write down and verbalize goals, you’re likely to ACHIEVE them — as long as they follow the SMART criteria. Make a SMART Decision: Formal goal setting involves a simple formula widely used in professional and personal settings. You’re welcome to create SMART goals throughout the guidebook. This model is called SMART goals where the acronym stands for: S = SPECIFIC M = MEASURABLE A = ACHIEVABLE R = RELEVANT T = TIMEBOUND Designing Your Life and Career in Medicine 23 WWW.PHYSICIANCAREERPLANNING.COM