In this episode of the Clinician Researcher Podcast, the focus is on navigating the challenges of a particularly busy season and finding balance amidst competing demands. The discussion explores lessons learned during a time filled with travel, deadlines, and family commitments, offering valuable takeaways for anyone juggling multiple responsibilities.

Key Insights Covered:

• Choosing Busyness:
  • Busyness is often a choice, and prioritizing what truly matters is essential.
  • Reflecting on what aspects of life are most important can help clarify where to direct energy and attention.
• Prioritizing What Matters:
  • Even in the busiest times, it’s possible to make space for what’s meaningful, such as spending time with loved ones or pursuing personal passions.
  • Focusing on high-value work, like writing and research, ensures progress in areas that lead to long-term impact.
• Inbox Overflow and Letting Go:
  • Email and other non-urgent tasks can take a backseat when focusing on more critical priorities.
  • Letting go of the pressure to meet every expectation or respond immediately helps maintain focus on what matters most.
• Rest and Reflection:
  • Prioritizing rest, even in small ways, can lead to greater clarity and productivity.
  • Engaging in reflection, meditation, or prayer helps nourish the spirit and refocus on life’s broader purpose.

Practical Tips for Managing Busy Seasons:

1. Identify and commit to the highest-priority tasks and relationships.
2. Deprioritize less critical responsibilities without guilt.
3. Take time to reflect on long-term goals and align daily activities accordingly.
4. Embrace rest and self-care as integral parts of maintaining balance.

As the episode highlights, busy seasons come and go, but they present an opportunity to reevaluate priorities and ensure alignment with personal values. Listeners are encouraged to think about their own highest-value work and how to balance competing demands in ways that are meaningful and sustainable.

Whether you're juggling deadlines, feeling stretched thin, or struggling to prioritize, this episode offers practical strategies to regain focus and maintain a sense of calm amid chaos.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

1. The Importance of Deciding Against Overwhelm: Shift your mindset by embracing the decision not to let overwhelm take control.
2. Prioritize Based on Values: Learn how aligning tasks with personal values can create clarity in chaos.
3. The Power of Feedback Over Judgment: Why removing self-judgment and offering actionable feedback to yourself and others fosters growth and creativity.
4. The Benefits of Focus and Specialization: How honing expertise in a specific area can reduce stress and create efficiencies in your work.
5. Grace for Yourself: Accepting that falling behind is part of life and finding the courage to get back up.

Key Takeaways:

• Overwhelm is a choice—decide not to choose it.
• Prioritization isn’t about doing everything; it’s about doing the next right thing.
• Judgment drains creativity—choose kindness for yourself and actionable feedback for others.
• Focus is your friend—build on your existing strengths to work smarter, not harder.
• Life’s not about perfection but about progress.

In today's episode, we explore the often-overlooked concept of our privilege. We discuss how recognizing our privileges can shift our mindset towards gratitude and empowerment.

Key Takeaways:

1. Recognizing Everyday Privileges: From having running water to being able to listen to a podcast, small privileges in daily life are worth acknowledging.
2. The Privilege of Professional Roles: Being a physician and a researcher comes with unique opportunities to impact lives and advance knowledge.
3. Gratitude as a Tool for Growth: Focusing on privileges rather than disadvantages fosters gratitude, resilience, and the ability to thrive.
4. Owning Privilege to Make an Impact: By embracing our privileges, we are better equipped to function effectively and contribute meaningfully to the world.

Call to Action:

• Reflect on your own privileges and share them with others.
• Join Dr. Onwuemene's group coaching sessions to further explore ways to thrive as a clinician researcher. Send her a direct message for more details.
• Share this episode with someone who could benefit from this uplifting message.

Connect with Us: Follow the Clinician Researcher Podcast for more inspiring episodes. Have thoughts or questions about today’s topic? Leave a comment or send a direct message to Dr. Nwemeneh!

In this episode of The Clinician Researcher Podcast, Dr. Tracy Onwuemene dives into an unexpected reason that may be holding you back from success in your academic journey. Drawing on personal insights and hard-earned lessons, Dr. Onwuemene shares how reframing challenges and shifting your mindset can unlock your potential and lead to transformative growth.

Through candid reflections, she discusses the distinction between challenges that help us grow and problems that drain our energy without yielding progress. The key takeaway? Success lies in your ability to identify and address obstacles strategically—whether by turning problems into challenges or walking away from immovable "rocks."

Key Points Discussed:

1. Embracing the Difficulty:
   • Academia is hard by design, but the right challenges push us to grow and evolve.
   • Challenges are like weights in the gym—difficult but rewarding.
2. Differentiating Challenges vs. Problems:
   • Challenges lead to transformation and progress.
   • Problems are immovable obstacles that drain energy and yield no growth.
3. Taking Ownership:
   • Your mentor, division chief, or institution isn’t the true problem—it’s how you approach the situation.
   • Empower yourself to find alternative solutions, seek new opportunities, or reframe obstacles as challenges.
4. Shifting the Focus:
   • Stop waiting for others to change and start taking control of your own success.
   • Redirect your energy toward strategies that make a difference instead of fixating on unchangeable problems.

Actionable Takeaways:

• Reflect on whether your current obstacles are challenges or problems.
• For challenges, create a strategy to push through.
• For problems, decide whether to leave them alone or find a creative workaround.
• Remember, the power to change your narrative is in your hands.

Quote of the Episode: "The only problem you can ever have is you—because you are the one with the power to turn problems into challenges or to leave them as they are."

Resources & Links:

• Subscribe to the Clinician Researcher Podcast
• Follow Dr. Tracy Onwuemene on LinkedIn
• Got questions or a topic suggestion? Email us at [email protected].

Join Us Next Week: Tune in as we discuss strategies for building resilience and maintaining balance as a clinician researcher. Don’t miss it!

n this episode of The Clinician Researcher Podcast, Dr. Tracy Onwuemene dives into the complex and often circular challenge of securing protected time in academia. From the struggle to get grants without protected time to the difficulties of gaining protected time without funding, she breaks down strategies and shares personal insights from her career journey.

Dr. Onwuemene emphasizes the importance of clarity, creativity, and strategic thinking in carving out time to pursue research and other professional goals. This episode will resonate with faculty and early-career researchers grappling with competing demands and seeking practical approaches to align their career aspirations with their realities.

Key Topics Covered:

1. The Paradox of Protected Time and Grant Funding:
   • The chicken-and-egg dilemma of needing protected time to secure grants but requiring grants to justify protected time.
   • Why clarity in career goals is critical for navigating this challenge.
2. Clarifying Your Goals:
   • The hidden fears and societal expectations that obscure true desires.
   • How identifying what you genuinely want—whether it’s research success, family time, or a mix of priorities—can guide your decisions.
3. Assessing Clinical Requirements:
   • Understanding your "minimum viable clinical work" to optimize your time and avoid burnout.
   • Asking the right questions about RVU targets and institutional expectations.
4. Evaluating the Relative and Energy Value of Contributions:
   • Determining the financial and personal energy costs of different clinical activities.
   • Balancing what generates revenue with what aligns with your passion and energizes you.

Takeaways:

• Know Your Why: Dig deep to uncover your true priorities and goals.
• Ask Strategic Questions: Understand institutional policies and set realistic expectations for your clinical and research work.
• Maximize Your Contributions: Align your efforts with what brings you energy and delivers the greatest value.
• Be Adaptable: Goals can evolve, and your approach to protecting time should too.

In this empowering episode of The Clinician Researcher Podcast, Dr. Toyosi Onwuemene discusses the importance of stepping up and taking the lead, especially in moments of uncertainty. Reflecting on her own experiences, Dr. Onwuemene shares how she navigated building a conceptual model for rare disease research and discovered the power of proactive leadership.

Key Takeaways:

1. Take the Lead in Defining Your Research Path:
   • Early in your research career, you may follow others' projects. Eventually, you must define what matters to you and build your own niche.
2. Create the Environment You Wish to See:
   • Toxic environments are real, but you have the power to shape your immediate surroundings into spaces that nourish and support you—even temporarily.
3. Be the Change You’re Looking For:
   • Transformation begins with you. Instead of waiting for others to change, shift your own approach to challenges for better outcomes.
4. Open the Doors That Are Closed:
   • Don’t wait for permission to enter spaces that reject you. Create new doors, find welcoming opportunities, and take control of your success.
5. Exit Spaces That Don’t Serve You:
   • Recognize when it’s time to leave environments or relationships that no longer align with your goals or values. Moving on is part of growth.

Quote of the Episode: "When in doubt, take the lead. Leadership is about creating the solutions you need and sharing them with the world. Others are waiting for the change only you can bring."

Connect with Us:

• Share this Episode: Know someone who could use a reminder to take charge? Share this episode with them!
• Follow the Podcast: Subscribe to The Clinician Researcher Podcast for more insights and inspiration.

Thank you for listening! Join us next time for another transformative conversation.

Sponsor/Advertising/Monetization Information:

This episode is sponsored by Coag Coach LLC, a leading provider of coaching resources for clinicians transitioning to become research leaders. Coag Coach LLC is committed to supporting clinicians in their scholarship.

Looking for a coach?

Sign up for a coaching discovery call today: https://www.coagcoach.com/service-page/consultation-call-1

Episode Summary: In this episode, Dr. Onwuemene recommends that clinician researchers opt out of the clinical productivity bonus. Tune in to explore why focusing on clinical productivity metrics could be hindering your research progress

Key Takeaways:

1. Avoid Hard-for-Hard’s-Sake Work: Clinicians are often conditioned to tackle tough challenges, but focusing on clinical productivity goals might lead to more hustle in the wrong areas. Dr. Onwuemene discusses how identifying and resisting this inclination can help you prioritize research efforts.
2. Understand Productivity Bonuses as Incentives, Not Rewards: Productivity bonuses are structured to push you toward more clinical work—not necessarily to reward your existing efforts. Dr. Onwuemene explains why these incentives may not align with advancing your research or professional growth.
3. Prioritize Your Research Goals: Instead of striving for a clinical bonus, invest your energy in meeting personal research milestones. Setting research targets that are both ambitious and aligned with your long-term career goals can yield far greater satisfaction.
4. Create a Strategic Plan: Plan for research success by organizing your tasks in advance. Dr. Onwuemene highlights how a strategic, forward-looking approach helps to ensure that your research receives the attention it needs.
5. Weekly Planning for Progress: Weekly planning is needed to balance clinic responsibilities with research. Make sure to allocate dedicated time for writing, manuscript submission, and grant preparation to advance your research goals.
6. Write Regularly to Foster Progress: When it comes to research productivity, writing is a keystone habit. By maintaining a consistent writing practice, you keep your research moving forward and build momentum toward publication.
7. Minimize Clinical Work Creep: Resist allowing clinical work to encroach on your research time. This might mean saying no to clinical bonuses or extra shifts that detract from your primary research objectives.

Quote of the Episode: "Clinical productivity bonuses aren’t neutral rewards—they’re incentives designed to keep you working harder in the clinic. If you want to grow as a researcher, it’s time to ask if they’re worth your time."

Call to Action: If you found today’s episode insightful, please share it with a colleague who might be juggling similar challenges. And don’t forget to connect with Dr. Onwuemene on LinkedIn to continue the conversation!

Sponsor/Advertising/Monetization Information:

This episode is sponsored by Coag Coach LLC, a leading provider of coaching resources for clinicians transitioning to become research leaders. Coag Coach LLC is committed to supporting clinicians in their scholarship.

Looking for a coach?

Sign up for a coaching discovery call today: https://www.coagcoach.com/service-page/consultation-call-1

Thank you for tuning in to the Clinician Researcher Podcast!

As clinician scientists, we sometimes feel that the end justifies the means. However, in reality, there are some things we do that absolutely do not serve us or our research program. In this episode, we discuss 7 things that we may love to do but should never do.

Key points

1. Don’t Worry About the Future
   • Constantly worrying about the unknown only pulls you away from the present. Instead, focus on what you can do today.
2. Avoid Regretting the Past
   • Regret keeps you stuck in what could’ve been. Learn from past experiences, but remember that looking forward is the key to progress.
3. Stop Wondering “Why”
   • Questioning why things happened as they did can trap you in a loop of overthinking. Accept what’s out of your control and use that energy to take actionable steps.
4. Skip the Arguments
   • Arguing rarely changes minds and only wastes valuable time. Seek constructive discussions and focus on solutions rather than getting stuck in conflicts.
5. Don’t Work with People You Don’t Like
   • Working with people who drain your energy or clash with your values can make every day feel like a struggle. Surround yourself with supportive, like-minded people whenever possible.
6. Don’t Leave It Up to Someone Else
   • If it matters to you, take ownership. Relying on others for key decisions can lead to disappointment and lost opportunities.
7. Avoid Working Hard at Unproductive Tasks
   • Effort without impact is wasted energy. Identify tasks that drive results and let go of the ones that don’t make a meaningful difference.

Key Takeaways:

• Shifting your focus from these “don’ts” can give you more energy, clarity, and peace.
• Let go of actions and mindsets that hold you back from living fully in the present.

Sponsor/Advertising/Monetization Information:

This episode is sponsored by Coag Coach LLC, a leading provider of coaching resources for clinicians transitioning to become research leaders. Coag Coach LLC is committed to supporting clinicians in their scholarship.

Looking for a coach?

Sign up for a coaching discovery call today: https://www.coagcoach.com/service-page/consultation-call-1

In this episode, Dr. Onwuemene explores why it’s often hard to chart a non-traditional path — and why it’s also deeply rewarding.

Key Takeaways:

1. The Difficulty of Breaking Away: Dr. Nwemena reflects on her early career, explaining how her clinical training initially seemed like enough, but soon revealed itself as only part of the equation. Pursuing research meant she had to step outside her comfort zone, embrace ambiguity, and go against the prevailing norms.
2. Social Pressure and Isolation: She addresses the pervasive social pressure to conform to traditional clinical roles, a challenge familiar to any clinician considering research. Leaving the well-worn path can lead to isolation from peers who may not understand or support the choice.
3. Risk of Repercussions: Choosing an unconventional path can lead to misunderstandings, resistance, and even active pushback. Dr. Nwemena shares ways to navigate these dynamics, from finding allies to staying focused on the greater purpose behind the decision.
4. Fear of Uncertainty: As clinicians, it's tempting to pursue safe, predictable routes. But Dr. Nwemena encourages listeners to confront this fear, emphasizing that the growth gained from venturing into the unknown is invaluable and shapes resilient, adaptable researchers.
5. Finding Support and Resources: While clinical environments may lack the infrastructure to support budding researchers, Dr. Nwemena provides tips for finding communities and resources outside the immediate work environment, such as joining peer groups, virtual workshops, or specialized research programs.

Advice for Listeners: If you're a clinician who feels the call to contribute through research, recognize that the challenges are real but manageable.

Join the Conversation: To stay updated on future episodes and engage with fellow clinician-researchers, follow the Clinician Researcher Podcast on social media and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.

Quotes:

• "Swimming against the current? Now that’s hard — but that’s where real growth happens.”
• “The beauty of going against the status quo is that it turns you into someone resilient, adaptable, and fearless.”

Subscribe & Support: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review! For additional resources and support, visit our website at [website URL] or join our weekly peer coaching community for clinicians pursuing research.

Sponsor/Advertising/Monetization Information:

This episode is sponsored by Coag Coach LLC, a leading provider of coaching resources for clinicians transitioning to become research leaders. Coag Coach LLC is committed to supporting clinicians in their scholarship.

Looking for a coach?

Sign up for a coaching discovery call today: https://www.coagcoach.com/service-page/consultation-call-1

In today's episode, we explore how gratitude can be a transformative force in your research career. While it might seem unrelated to your scientific pursuits, gratitude is crucial for resilience and well-being as a clinician researcher.

Key Takeaways:

1. Gratitude as a Resilience Builder: It provides the courage and strength to keep moving forward.
2. Improved Mental Health: Recognizing progress and wins helps to alleviate stress and uplift mood.
3. Stronger Connections: Appreciation for others enriches professional relationships.
4. Increased Creativity: A positive mindset fuels innovation and problem-solving.
5. Motivation and Persistence: Gratitude sustains motivation, helping us persist through obstacles.
6. Job Fulfillment: Appreciating wins brings greater satisfaction in our work.
7. Enhanced Well-being: Gratitude supports physical health by promoting positive habits.

Final Thoughts: Embracing gratitude is a discipline that, when practiced regularly, can profoundly benefit every area of your life, including your journey as a clinician researcher. Remember, there’s always something to be grateful for—even on the toughest days.

Sponsor/Advertising/Monetization Information:

This episode is sponsored by Coag Coach LLC, a leading provider of coaching resources for clinicians transitioning to become research leaders. Coag Coach LLC is committed to supporting clinicians in their scholarship.

Looking for a coach?

Sign up for a coaching discovery call today: https://www.coagcoach.com/service-page/consultation-call-1