Hijacking the Hallway Conversation: How Sponsorship Supports Career Development

Sponsorship, as highlighted in Gottlieb and Travis’ recent article in Academic Medicine, is all about the “hallway conversations” and having someone partake in those conversations who believes in and will vouch for you.  And it is the sponsor’s trust in you that, in turn, pushes you to believe that you actually have the capabilities they envision. Let me tell you about an unexpected hallway conversation that changed my life. The CEO of my institution’s medical group bumped into my research mentor in the hallway one day. The CEO expressed that population health and value-based payment models are becoming increasingly common and that he needed someone to lead these efforts for our institution. My research mentor suggested me for the role. I was shocked. I’d never told my research mentor, or anyone else for that matter, that I aspired to lead population health initiatives, nor that I sought an administrative position. In fact, I was finishing a health services research fellowship and looking for a traditional position in an academic medical center with a 75%/25% split between research and clinical-educational activities, for which my mentor had written many letters of recommendation to a variety of institutions. So, needless to say, I was surprised that I even came to his mind for this position because I was so junior and had no direct experience in health care administration. In fact, I wouldn’t even have nominated myself for the position if I had known about it....
Source: Academic Medicine Blog - Category: Universities & Medical Training Authors: Tags: Featured Guest Perspective career development mentorship sponsorship women in medicine Source Type: blogs