Now, a closer look at the mastery cycle invites consideration of its half-life in medical careers. Of course, as experts in expertise like Ericsson and Pool remind us (1), the pathway to mastery requires deliberate practice \u2013 practice that has specific goals, is focused, and includes coaching feedback. Mastery is not about time spent, whether 10,000 hours or otherwise. Comments from Vince Lombardi, famed Green Bay Packers coach, resonate here: \u201cPractice doesn\u2019t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve come to believe that the mastery cycle in medicine occurs in 5 \u2013 12 year epochs. From medical school to the end of residency generally ranges from 7 to 12 years, depending on school and specialty. Adding subspecialty training augments the cycle by another 3 \u2013 7 years. The median time to complete a PhD in the biomedical sciences varies from 4.88 to 5.73 years (2); only 42% of candidates complete their doctorate in genetics\/genomics in <<\/u> 6 years (2). As another example, most would say that the learning curve for newly minted faculty to hit stride in their clinical and academic skills is especially steep for 5 \u2013 12 years. All these 5 \u2013 12 year epochs exemplify mastery cycles. I believe that we doctors should be paying more attention to the periodicity of our careers.<\/p>\n
So, what takeaways might I offer about what drives doctors and the impact of these drivers? First, it is important to be aware of the periodicity of careers and that these drivers exist and are common \u2013 the appetites for mastery and to have impact. Second, awareness of the drivers and of their impact helps us to recognize and to \u201cname the emotion\u201d when, as I believe, the asymptote periods inevitably come. Understanding that we are at risk for ennui can inoculate us against its unsettling and sometimes dysfunctional effects. Finally, following Kierkegaard\u2019s observation, senior colleagues have an opportunity to coach junior colleagues about their careers. We must talk about the slope of careers in medicine. In the end, constantly seeking new challenges, always hungering for impact, and pursuing mastery endlessly are the stuff of which ideal careers and great medicine are made.<\/p>\n
References<\/strong><\/p>\n Professor James Stoller\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n James<\/span>\u00a0K.\u00a0Stoller<\/span>, MD, MS serves as Professor and Chairman of the Education Institute at Cleveland Clinic, where he has been a pulmonary physician for 34 years. He holds the Jean Wall Bennett Chair and the Samson Global Leadership academy Endowed Chair at Cleveland Clinic. He holds a Master\u2019s degree in Organizational Development and is Adjunct Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Weatherhead School of Management of Case Western Reserve University and Honorary Visiting Professor at the Cass School of Business, City University of London. He has a longstanding interest in developing physician leaders and currently serves as the Associate Director of Physician Leadership Development in the Cleveland Clinic\u2019s Mandel Global Leadership and Learning Institute and as Co-Director of the Clinic\u2019s Samson Global Leadership Academy.<\/p>\n Declaration of interests<\/strong><\/p>\n I have read and understood the BMJ Group policy on declaration of interests and declare the following interests: none.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019m a big believer in coaching. Having coaches \u2013 both formal and informal \u2013 has been invaluable to me over years; at their best, coaches are thoughtful observers who can ask us the right questions to \u00a0elicit our coming up with our own right answers. I remember an \u201caha\u201d moment with a talented executive coach […]<\/p>\n\n
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