This post was authored by Andrew M. Freeman, MD, FACC, immediate past chair of the ACC’s Early Career Section.

Doesn’t it feel good to be taken under some bigwig’s wing and be guided on a path that might otherwise be difficult to find on your own? Wouldn’t it be great if someone could show you how to do something with great success without all the typical sputtering? Can you imagine being associated with someone so well known it brings you, the little-known-newbie, into the spotlight too?

If you answered yes to any of these, you have begun to see the magic of what is known as mentorship. Mentorship takes many forms – from a senior partner telling you how to impress referring physicians, to a professor emeritus giving you the hints you need to get that National Institutes of Health grant, to a middle-career clinician teaching you how to open those chronic total occlusions – and many others. In short, it is building “upon the shoulders” of those who came before – the “giants” in our career.

In a way, many of us are mentored by our parents from a very young age: not only do they show us the ropes, but they teach us practical stuff. Parents also encourage us to follow our dreams and stand behind us through thick and thin. In the same way, career mentors teach us the practical stuff while encouraging us to think bigger and do more. Without mentors, it would be hard to carve a path or develop a niche and would undoubtedly take a much longer time.

For me, mentorship has continued to evolve. I continue to try to take all the best parts from those whom came before me and build on them. In addition to the senior residents and senior fellows in training, my attendings in fellowship – including Alfred A. Bove, MD, PhD, MACC; William A. Van Decker, MD, FACC; and others – have inspired me to do more than just “train.” They wanted me to become active and involved in our profession and challenged me to do more in our professional societies.

Through their encouragement, I’ve met countless others who have helped me along my path – most notably Mary “Minnow” Norine Walsh, MD, FACC, who took me under her wing when I became interested in patient-centered care. Richard J. Kovacs, MD, FACC, taught me how to be well-rounded, engaging, and productive in producing technology and apps for the College on the best practice quality improvement subcommittee of the Clinical Quality Committee. From there, I learned even more from William A. Zoghbi, MD, MACC; Patrick T. O’Gara, MD, MACC; and Kim Allan Williams, Sr., MD, FACC, as I became even more involved in the College. With every relationship, I not only grew as a person and as a cardiologist, but I learned where my own weaknesses were and how to start to tackle them.

Eventually, I landed in the ACC’s leadership academy – and in this amazing group of go-getter early careers, I’ve found many close friends to grow with. I even got paired with W. Douglas Weaver, MD, MACC, as my official mentor. From there, not only did we talk about growth as a manager, development as a cardiologist, and managing a clinical enterprise, but he challenged me to funnel energies into a project for the greater good of the College in the international realm.

Every relationship is mentorship in some ways – the key is recognizing, becoming aware, and using the unbelievable knowledge and power in all of our colleagues to further our global mission to fight cardiovascular disease, all while growing as an individual.

Learn more about the ACC’s Mentoring Program, a free ACC member benefit and sign up at ACC.org/Mentoring.

 

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