It took me a little while to get started on this assignment. What would be most useful to young gastroenterologists embarking on their careers? When I asked around, I heard that many of you wanted me to describe challenges and decision points. The following list is vaguely chronological, surely noncomprehensive, and meant to serve as a starting point.
1. To stay in basic science or return to patient care
My start in science was rocky. I had come to the United States for a post-doc after medical school in Germany. I had never pipetted before. It was the early days of array technologies, and the lab was very technical and basic. We made our own arrays and our own analytics, and none of my experiments worked. So, I spent 1 year feeling like I made no progress – but in hindsight I appreciate the tremendous growth in these formative years honing inquiry and persistence, as well as building resilience. I added a third year as some results were finally emerging; however, the bedside started to feel very far away. I could not ignore the tug back to the patient care, and after contemplating a PhD program, I decided to apply for residency in a physician-scientist pathway. Given the streamlined training that allowed for science and clinical education in an organized fashion, I also decided to stay in the U.S. This of course had vast personal consequences, which I did not fully appreciate at the time.
Dr. Barbara Jung
Residency was another time of immense growth, I was the only “foreign medical graduate” and had a lot to catch up on, but I enjoyed my amazing peers and the hands-on learning.
Pearl: Follow your passion. Not what makes most sense or what someone wants for you or what you could achieve given your past work. Do what will get you up in the morning and add a bounce to your step.
2. To go for big impact or climate
At UCSD at the time, there was a culture of impactful mega-labs, up 30 post-docs, often with many working on the same project with the ones finishing first garnering the publication. This created a “go big or go home” (literally) atmosphere. As part of the PSTP program, I was supported by the GI T32 and, being “free labor,” had a pretty wide array of labs to choose from. To the program director’s surprise, I settled on a fairly junior investigator, who was a fellow gastroenterologist and took a personal interest in my career. When making that decision, I prioritized climate over outcome. I remember thinking to myself that how I spent my time was just as important as the potential outcome of the time spent. Through my years in Dr. John Carethers’ lab, I gained insight into his administrative and leadership roles which added another dimension to our mentorship relationship. These years were fun and productive, and our mentorship grew into a friendship.
Pearl: Look for the right people to work with. Particularly who you work for. Everything else is secondary as the right people will set the tone and most influence your day-to-day experience, which is the foundation of your success.
