Award aims to boost physician mentors

The Joy McCann Foundation gives four physicians $150,000 each for excellence in mentoring.

By Myrle Croasdale, amednews staff. Nov. 3, 2003.

Flush with a $150,000 windfall, what would you do? Travel to Paris? Buy a convertible? Not these doctors. The four winners of the newly created McCann Scholars award have more practical plans in mind.

The Joy McCann Foundation, a private family foundation that supports excellence in medical and nursing education, research and patient care, academic achievement in student athletes, and the visual and performing arts, selected four physicians to honor as mentors in October, giving each $150,000 with no strings attached.

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The award, which will now be given annually, is meant to reward the mentoring aspect of teaching in science and medicine.

One of the award recipients is already planning to give her money away.

"I hope this will call attention to how important mentoring in medicine is," said Robert Daugherty, MD, co-chair of the foundation. "I think many of us ... underestimate our role as role models and mentors."

The winners this year are: Rosanne Leipzig, MD, PhD, professor and vice chair for education, Dept. of Geriatrics, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York; James Mitchell, MD, president of the Neuropsychiatric Research Institute and professor and chair of the Neuroscience Dept. at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Fargo, ND; Kelley Skeff, MD, PhD, professor and associate chair for education, Dept. of Medicine, Stanford (Calif.) University Medical Center; and Marjorie Smith, MD, professor and chair, Dept. of Pathology, Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta.

Wow, I'm a mentor.

Dr. Leipzig, like some of the other McCann Scholars, hadn't thought of herself as a mentor until she received the award.

"I'm spending more time thinking about why I got this than what I'm going to do with the money," she said. "It came out of nowhere from where I'm sitting. The reason for the award and the possibility that it might make a change in medical education is extraordinary to me."

She ties part of her energy for nurturing the careers of others to the lack of guidance she had in establishing her own.

"I had some bad experiences starting out in academic medicine, and it's very important to me to help junior people avoid that," she said.

That includes ensuring that they understand the chain of command within the large bureaucracy of the institution, avoiding getting caught up in the battles that may arise between senior faculty members, finding what they are passionate about, learning to include others in the formative process of writing, and identifying what skills they need to get where they want to be in five years.

Drs. Skeff, Mitchell and Smith were equally impressed by the award's emphasis on mentoring, and all have colleagues and former students willing to attest to their influence in their lives.

Fred Lopez, MD, said he completely changed his career path after working with Dr. Skeff, who is well-known in the academic world for his work in developing teaching skills among faculty.

"Dr. Skeff has a way of making others get excited about the process of medical education," Dr. Lopez said. "I've never been around someone who literally walks into the room and everyone immediately is engaged in teaching. He's a lightning rod for education."

Dr. Lopez had intended to become a physician scientist, but after working under Dr. Skeff as chief resident of internal medicine, he was turned on to teaching. Now he is assistant professor and vice chair for education in the Dept. of Medicine as well as assistant dean for student affairs at Louisiana State University School of Medicine at New Orleans.

Dr. Mitchell hopes his award will stimulate more discussion about mentoring among faculty at his school and plans to suggest a faculty panel on the topic.

"I think mentoring is critical," Dr. Mitchell said. "I'm mainly a clinical researcher, and I wandered in the woods for a couple of years. It would have saved me a lot of time if I had had a mentor."

As for the award money, Dr. Smith said she is going to use hers to set up an endowed scholarship for medical students.

Other winners mentioned using it to bolster their retirement funds. Dr. Leipzig is considering setting up a Web site that physicians can use as a reference on geriatric care.