The first time I went to an AMDA (Society for Post Acute and Long Term Care Medicine) meeting was in 1995 in Orlando, Florida. I always enjoy seeing old friends and making new ones. Today was the first day of this years annual meeting, held in Atlanta. While there were a lot of positive and fun things I did and learned today, one thing stood out. The value of mentorship.
I've been in a little bit of a funk since I quit my job, trying to sort out my purpose in life and how I am going to carry forward with the things that matter to me. I ran into a handful of people today who reminded me that our value and purpose are not always overtly obvious. I had more than one person tell me today how much of a positive influence I had on their life and career. Wow! It reminded me of learning many years ago that I had actually been responsible for a fellow medical school classmate becoming a geriatrician. He was inspired by the keynote address at our annual research forum, which I was a co-director of. We had invited an eminent geriatrician to give that keynote, based in no small part, my nascent desire to become a geriatrician myself. It was several years later that I learned that a geriatrician that I had hired had been inspired by that address.
I have had the good fortune to work with many wonderful people during my career. I learn every day how little I actually know, but it is nice to hear that I have had some influence on the careers of others. I love to teach, I love to share my thoughts and insights. They aren't always correct, and I hope that I am clear in letting people know that. We all need to learn from one another, both in life and in our work.
Since I quit my job, the idea of mentorship playing an important role in what I do going forward keeps coming back. I'm not sure that there's anything that I enjoy more! To have a number of people approach me today who learned from me over a decade ago and still appreciate what I taught them is and will always be a highlight of both my career and my life.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment