Career and Life Planning Guidebook for Medical Residents

Helped me develop skills and get work done. These people helped you develop clinical skills and complete your residency work. They might have worked directly with you or they may have connected you with during weekly interactions. Consider who provided important information, advice, expertise, or other resources for your work. Helped advance my residency and career. These are people who contributed to your professional development as a physician and facilitated your career advancement. They might be genuine mentors or more distant allies, but they provided career guidance or direction in the recent past. Be sure to note if they are in powerful positions and connected you to opportunities or advocated for you. Provided personal support. These are people essential for your emotional well-being. You share experiences together—positive and negative. It’s not uncommon for you to consult with them about decisions, vent or commiserate, and debrief difficult situations. These are people with whom you can be yourself. Served as role models for me. These are people who set an inspiring example and who you may aspire to emulate. They have careers that you admire and could imagine potentially following a similar path. Or, they conduct themselves (personally or professionally) in a way that feels “right” to you. Indicate the type of support your advisors provided across these categories using the following guide, noting if it was (H)igh, (M)edium, or (L)ow, and just leave blank if it does not apply. 3. IDENTIFY THE SOCIAL REALM THESE ADVISORS COME FROM By noting what social realm your advisors broadly come from (e.g., Family, Friends, Residency Program, Neighbors, On-Line, Community Physicians, etc.), you can be sure that you’re not leaving any major advisors out. These different social realms broadly represent career communities or sources from which we can draw career and personal support. 4. NOTE ANYTHING IMPORTANTAS YOU REFLECT Then, the last piece of your reflection is to note anything important about each person that is not indicated by the categories above. What is the key reason they are in your network? How has their help changed the way you think about your career or life in general? This is also a great place to indicate what makes your relationship with that advisor work and where alignment could be improved. Your Success Network 395 WWW.PHYSICIANCAREERPLANNING.COM