I’ve been inspired to write this blog piece
after seeing the wonderful Prezi presentation constructed by Dr Marni Basto on Urology Social Media 101. It really is a fantastic presentation that
has gone viral throughout the international urological community. Although she is yet to commence formal
urological training (she deferred commencement by a year to work on her Masters
of Surgery), she now has an international reputation for her skill and
understanding in the area of social media and associated technology. When you look at her presentation, it is obvious
that she is an individual who has great clarity of thought and able to develop depth
of understanding of a given topic – these types of skills are easily translated
to any area of medicine. One can only
sense that she has a bright future ahead of her.
I’ll now move onto what her Prezi has got
me thinking about. Over the years, I
have observed a number of young urologists returning to Australia after
completing post FRACS (surgical qualification) training. I commonly see this expression of despair
that they cannot find a coveted public teaching hospital position, which is
always the best way to kick-start a new practice in surgery. Here you have access to multidisciplinary
care, senior collegial mentorship, teaching of surgical trainees and medical
students as well as research opportunities.
These positions are in limited supply and only come about when they are
to replace a surgeon who has either resigned or retired or if the waters have
parted to create a new position.
Some of these young surgeons feel a sense
of entitlement that they should be able to just walk into such a position. I recall one surgeon who complained that he
was a subspecialized surgeon who had done his special post fellowship training and
could not understand why no teaching hospital was making any particular effort
to find space for him within their units.
Another said to me that he was technically a much better surgeon than
some others who had received teaching hospital appointments. When I thought
about their achievements, they had not made a single presentation at a major
urological meeting, had not published a single paper whilst away and since
returning home, had contributed little to the profession (eg could do volunteer
work or perform committee work with the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
or Urological Society of Australian and New Zealand).
And here lies the point that people can
create their own luck. I can usually make
a prediction before one of our trainees goes overseas or interstate for post
FRACS training, as to who will literally walk back into a teaching hospital
position. When I look at trainees who have done research with me, the ones who
reliably kept to deadlines and completed their assignments were the same who
did such when abroad and the same ones who eventually found positions in
teaching hospitals. These were
individuals prepared to go the extra mile and create their own luck. The trainees where I had to repeatedly
provide gentle reminders to complete tasks to help their own careers have more
often struggled. The ability to create
luck had already been defined early in their careers.
Back to Marni. She has already passed the hurdles to be
selected for urological training and is yet to commence whilst she does her
Masters of Surgery. You know that Marni has
already begun to create her own luck and I am excited that we will have a
future urologist who will be more than just ordinary.
