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Choosing a Good Basic Science or Translational Research Mentor

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Success in Academic Surgery: Basic Science

Part of the book series: Success in Academic Surgery ((SIAS))

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Abstract

More than intellect, background, credentials, or skillsets, the ability to identify an effective professional mentor is arguably the most important predictor of achieving success in academic surgery. The healthy mentor-protégé relationship can be elusive, and establishing a dysfunctional mentor relationship can have abortive effects on the trajectory of one’s career. This chapter outlines some reflections and strategies that may help one identify and build an effective professional mentor relationship.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A good illustration of this point (that your mentor is usually more predictive of your professional success than you are) is the mentored research grant application (e.g., National Institutes of Health K08, Department of Veterans Affairs Career Development Award). You can populate it with the finest research proposal and personal biosketch in the world, but none of that amounts to a whole lot compared with your mentor’s biosketch, the proposal for how the mentorship interactions will take place, and the perception by the grant reviewers of how involved your mentor was in the preparation of the application.

  2. 2.

    2If you have any doubt as to the veracity of Curious Principle Number Two, sit in on any presidential address of any surgical society to which you belong.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Surgical Oncology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, J4/703 Clinical Sciences Center, 600 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI, 53792-7375, USA

    Clifford S. Cho MD, FACS

Authors
  1. Clifford S. Cho MD, FACS
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Correspondence to Clifford S. Cho MD, FACS .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Professor of Surgery, Vice Chair of Research, Edward G. Elcock Professor of Surgical Research, Department of Surgery, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA, and Co-Chief, Peripheral Vascular Surgery, Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    Melina R. Kibbe

  2. Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, and Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Texas Heart Institute, St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA

    Scott A. LeMaire

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag London

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Cho, C.S. (2014). Choosing a Good Basic Science or Translational Research Mentor. In: Kibbe, M., LeMaire, S. (eds) Success in Academic Surgery: Basic Science. Success in Academic Surgery. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4736-7_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4736-7_2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-4735-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-4736-7

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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