2020 ATS Pediatric Virtual Boot Camp: 

Tips for a Successful Fellowship

The Real World

The Real World
Aliva De, MD

Finding a Job
Clement Ren, MD

Types of Jobs 
Clement Ren, MD

Types of Jobs
Eric Zee, MD

The Real World
When should I be looking for jobs?
A fellow should start to look for jobs mid-to-end of second year. Start sending out e-mails mid-year of your second year and start networking at ATS. There are several pediatric pulmonary jobs available so finding a job will not be difficult. However, you need to decide where and what your ideal job will be. Do you want a mostly research position, mostly clinical, or both? If you want protected time for research you need to negotiate this before starting because it is getting harder and harder in different institutions. More research time becomes easier to negotiate if you have a grant during fellowship that can be transferred with you. Make sure your research time is in writing before you start because once you start your new job it is very difficult to try to negotiate for more research/protected non-clinical time if it is not funded. Finally, if there is a certain program you have your heart set on, then early communication with the program of your choice is key and they will keep you in mind if a position becomes available. Interview in several places so you can compare positions and contracts.

Mai Elmallah, MD

The Real World
There are: academic (medical school associated); quasi-academic (residency program, but no medical school); and non-academic (clinician with no teaching responsibilities) positions that are available.  Once you have your clinical legs under you, there are: industry (pharmaceutical; government), research (clinical, translational, basic) as well as administrative positions.  I would recommend honing your craft first in the clinical positions before transitioning to the non-clinical.  It makes you a stronger candidate by doing so.  Through your fellowship, you’ll need to make a determination of how much education and how much research you enjoy doing.  This will then help you determine what type of clinical position that you would like to be in.  Anytime that you are able to attend a major conference: ATS, NACFC, CHEST, etc, attend it.  Even better, present at those conferences as well as attend the conferences that your mentor(s) will attend.  Get good at small talk and have your business card with your email address on it to hand out.  Send an email about a week after the conferences to your mentor’s colleagues that you met saying how nice it was to meet them.

Edward Fong, MD

What is the right job for me?
I think this is a great question to start thinking about early in fellowship. There’s a wide variety of jobs available in peds pulm- whether is more clinical, research, or education based. Many jobs are a mix of all 3. I think fellowship is a great time to test out all the different areas to see what you truly like. Choose projects in fellowship that you think you will be passionate about. If it’s something you continue to enjoy throughout fellowship that’ll help you be more confident to know that it is something you’ll want in your career as faculty.

Aside from the actual job description itself I do think it’s important think about the big picture of what life will look like with the job you choose. If being close to your family or a certain weather climate is important for you I’d take that into account when looking for job locations. I’d also consider how you feel like you would “fit” in with your future colleagues. You will be spending a lot of time with your colleagues so you want it to be a group of people you feel comfortable with. I would also recommend finding out about available mentorship at your future job. Being paired with a good mentor early on in your career can be very helpful so I’d look for this as you compare jobs.

Lisa Ulrich, MD

How do I look for jobs/how do I “network”?
“Networking” can seem overwhelming at times as a fellow. National conferences offer great opportunities to do this though. I’d recommend attending the Young Professionals/ early career sessions at every conference you attend. You will meet a variety of people excited to get to know you. The ATS conference, in the 2nd year of fellowship, is the perfect time to meet people and learn about job opportunities across the country. 

COVID-19 has taken away the chance to meet at conferences for the time being. I believe it’s more important than ever to utilize the faculty in your own department to help you network. Pediatric pulmonology is a small world so many of the faculty know each other. Your faculty can help “introduce you” to other faculty across the country through a simple e-mail or phone call. This allows you to learn about opportunities you may be interested in. Always have an updated CV available during these interactions because you’ll often be asked to send the CV after you’ve been introduced.

Lisa Ulrich, MD

Finding a Job
What is an elevator pitch?
The timeless “elevator pitch” is a classic business term describing how you can sell something in a very short time. For many physicians, the idea of selling anything is a bit foreign – we tend to deal in data, not persuasion. When it comes time to find a job, however, being able to (honestly) sell yourself is an important skill to have. As part of that skill, a well thought out “elevator pitch” is key. The goal is to describe in just a few minutes (1) what kind of position you are looking for, (2) why you are passionate about that and your vision for it, and (3) why you’re the right person to do that job. Being concise and precise is important here; most people will make a quick value assessment within the first few minutes of meeting a candidate (whether fair or not). The ability to do this well is also key for networking at conferences and other meetings, where you may only have a few minutes to share with a potential boss or collaborator. This is critically important for folks in research positions, where divisions will be looking to ensure you understand your research and have a clear (fundable) vision for its future, but is also important in clinical positions to express your passions and talents. They key here is to figure out what the four or five most important points you want to get across are and practice delivering them in various settings (on the couch with a friend, on the phone with a parent, to your mentor or program director, etc.). I generally discourage people from writing a script and memorizing it; this will frequently come off as overly practiced and perhaps disingenuous. Instead, get comfortable talking about yourself and your goals so you can do it effectively in multiple settings. Make sure everything you include in your practice “elevator pitch” is completely honest and a comfortable topic, to make sure you don’t get thrown off by a question along the way. If done well, you can use this skill to open doors for collaboration (and employment) throughout your career.

John Brewington, MD