The feature "At the Heart of It All - The Weill Department of Medicine's Dedication to Mentorship," is among the features in the Department's 2023 Annual Report.
Mentorship is a core part of Weill Cornell Medicine’s tripartite mission of education, research and high-quality patient care. It is at the center of the Department of Medicine’s spirit of collaboration. “Mentoring is one of the most rewarding aspects of my career,” said Dr. Monika Safford, Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine, Director of the Cornell Center for Health Equity, and the John J. Kuiper Professor of Medicine. She attributes communication and honesty as key components of a successful mentoring relationship. In 2023, she received the Jessica M. and Natan Bibliowicz Award for Excellence in Mentoring Women Faculty during Weill Cornell Medicine’s fifth annual Diversity Week. The Bibliowicz Award recognizes outstanding faculty at Weill Cornell Medicine who demonstrate a commitment to advancing the academic careers of women in the areas of clinical care, research, or education. The individual must have an established record of providing strong mentorship as well as fostering a nurturing and supportive environment for all faculty.
A unique aspect of Dr. Safford’s approach to mentorship is her relationship with mentees from different specialty areas, agreed longtime mentees Drs. Jamuna Krishnan and Kerri Ilene Aronson, who both specialize in pulmonary and critical care medicine. “[Dr. Safford] takes the role [of mentoring] very seriously,” said Dr. Aronson, an Assistant Professor of Medicine. “She takes a ‘whole person’ approach that is immersive.” The inevitable challenges and roadblocks that go with research are normalized as part of the process. Added Dr. Krishnan, also an Assistant Professor of Medicine: “We’re reminded that it’s the first time we’re doing something like this.”
When she reached out to Dr. Safford to be her mentor, Dr. Safford immediately set up regular 30-minute weekly meetings to touch base. A key part of having an effective mentoring relationship as a mentee, Dr. Krishnan added, was being transparent and accountable. Through her mentoring relationship, Dr. Aronson said she felt empowered to make bolder choices in her career – seeing herself in a leadership capacity in a way she might not have without Dr. Safford’s impact. Both Drs. Krishnan and Aronson remarked that Dr. Safford was a phenomenal problem solver, able to cut through roadblocks in creative and innovative ways. When Dr. Laura Pinheiro, an Assistant Professor of Health Services Research, started her first faculty appointment at Weill Cornell Medicine in 2017, Dr. Safford quickly took her under her wing. “At once she made me feel like I was part of the team,” Dr. Pinheiro said. Dr. Safford helped Dr. Pinheiro craft and submit six small grants during her first year, propelling Dr. Pinheiro’s research in studying cardiovascular disease in patients with cancer. “Her hands[1]on approach allowed me to grow and develop as an early career researcher,” Dr. Pinheiro said.
Another longtime mentee, Dr. Madeline Sterling, an Associate Professor of Medicine, lauds Dr. Safford for “visionary support of big ideas. She added: She has this great ability to see the trajectory [of an initiative or person’s work] and encourages you to think not just about the one study, but the bigger, overall picture.” Dr. Sterling has been recognized for her extensive research on the working conditions of home health care workers. She recently received a $3.7 million-dollar R01 grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute titled “I-TRANSFER-HF: Improving Transitions and Outcomes for Heart Failure Patients in Home Health Care: A Type 1 Hybrid/Effectiveness Implementation Trial.” In essence, “Dr. Safford is extraordinarily generous with her time and resources,” noted Dr. Lisa Kern, Associate Professor of Medicine and Population Health Sciences and Associate Director for Research in the Division of General Internal Medicine. “And she can hone in [on a research challenge] with enormous precision, reliably coming up with solutions that work.” At the Heart of it All: Our Dedication to Mentorship 2 Dr. Safford's commitment to mentorship is a value reflected in Weill Cornell Medicine itself.
From left, Drs. Justin Choi, Marshall Glesby and Carrie Johnston.
In September 2022, Dr. Marshall Glesby, Associate Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and Director of the Cornell HIV Clinical Trials Unit at Weill Cornell Medicine, was appointed Vice Chair for Mentoring and Faculty Development. His objective in this role is to support faculty members seeking guidance on career development and the promotions process, and to better promote and formalize Weill Cornell Medicine’s many existing career development resources. This includes the newly developed Diversity Leadership Program targeting URiM (underrepresented in Medicine) faculty early in their Weill Cornell Medicine careers. The inaugural cohort ran from March 2022-June 2023. A new cohort is set to run in February 2024. Another URiM-focused program is the Mastercard Diversity-Mentorship Collaborative. Established through the support of a generous grant from the Mastercard Impact Fund, the Collaborative supports a range of diversity and inclusion programs, including a salary support program for new faculty, competitive career development awards for junior faculty from URiM populations, research assistance for faculty members with childcare commitments, a mentoring curriculum, and a visiting mentor speaker series. Another initiative is the Group Peer Mentoring Program for early and mid-career researchers, bringing together early career clinicians, leaders in medical education and experienced faculty alike. Research has shown that facilitated group peer mentoring has multiple benefits, including improved physician vitality, career advancement, and inclusivity, drawing faculty from a range of backgrounds. Participants engage in regular faculty development workshops and meet with peers for 30-60 minutes between sessions, creating individually tailored goals for professional development. Through these relationships, participants learn effective approaches to negotiation, feedback and team leadership.
Additional programs include the Healthcare Leadership Fellows Program for fellows interested in health care policy and leadership; the Leadership in Academic Medicine (LAMP) program for faculty in their second, third or fourth year of their faculty appointment; the Quality Improvement Academy, for clinical instructor or assistant professor-level faculty committed to becoming leaders in interdisciplinary process improvement; the Mentored Clinical Research Training Program (MCRTP) for junior faculty pursuing intensive clinical research training in partnership with Houston Methodist; the K Early Career Award Training (KECAT) Program for early career investigators planning to apply for an NIH K-series grant or equivalent foundation career development award; and the Faculty Advancement & Research Mentorship (FARM) program for junior faculty developing independent research careers (i.e. K to R transition; pursuit of R01 grants). Dr. Glesby’s goals include making these resources – currently listed in the education section of the Department of Medicine website and, in some instances, the Office of Faculty Affairs website – more centralized on the Department of Medicine homepage.
“I’ve benefited from mentoring my entire career, and aspire to be an excellent mentor myself,” Dr. Glesby said. In his Vice Chair role, he holds consistent office hours and has an overall “open door” policy for faculty seeking career advice. “A lot of guidance is centered around promotions,” Dr. Glesby said. “Our goal is to make the process more transparent, no matter where faculty may be in their career.” When he joined the Weill Cornell Medicine faculty in 2017, Dr. Justin Choi, an Assistant Professor of Medicine and hospitalist, connected with Dr. Glesby over his interest in infectious diseases. “He is an excellent listener and incredibly grounded and personable, despite his seniority,” Dr. Choi said. “I appreciate how [Dr. Glesby] always takes notes during our meetings.” Dr. Glesby’s counsel helped Dr. Choi’s research into the performance of biomarkers to improve hospital diagnoses. More recently, Dr. Glesby has become more than a research mentor. “He’s a mentor in personal growth, too,” Dr. Choi said. “It’s easy to go to him because of the trust we developed early on.”
Upon starting her journey at Weill Cornell Medicine as an internal medicine resident in 2013, Dr. Carrie Johnston knew she wanted to pursue a career in infectious diseases. After starting her Infectious Diseases fellowship, she began interacting with several senior faculty members in the Division of Infectious Diseases, including Dr. Glesby. “Knowing Dr. Glesby’s extensive work in HIV, it seemed like a natural, synergistic fit to work with him in my research in HIV and aging,” Dr. Johnston said. “Thankfully, the medications for HIV treatment have improved so much in the U.S. and internationally; many of my outpatient patients are active into their 80s. My central questions are how healthy aging can be supported and identifying biomarkers of less successful aging.” Dr. Glesby’s guidance, she says, is often pragmatic. “He has a really insightful view on grant application planning,” she continues. “Pretty quickly – within six months of joining the Weill Cornell faculty – I submitted a successfully funded K23 grant (K23 grants are a Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award from the NIH). Effective mentorship can have a lasting, positive impact on careers.”