A Conversation with Dr. Lauren Shapiro

“The thing that I wish I knew at the beginning is that there will be challenges that you can’t even anticipate at this moment in your career. But if you remember the fundamentals, if you remember that your job is to care for people and leave them better than they were before they came in contact with you, it will steer you in the right direction and everything else will just become noise.”

Bio

Dr. Lauren Shapiro is the Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Montefiore Hospital. Her areas of interest include resident wellness, social determinants of health, clinical reasoning, and above all, resident education. Dr. Shapiro is originally from southern New Jersey and obtained her undergraduate degree in biology from Rutgers. After receiving her medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, she completed her residency at Montefiore in Primary Care/Social Internal Medicine. She has been recognised for her teaching with the Montefiore Residency Teaching Award and induction into the Davidoff Society for Outstanding Achievement in Teaching of Medical Students. She is passionate about providing excellent medical care, especially to the most underserved and vulnerable patient populations.

What were the core values imparted to you early in your life?

“I think from the beginning, my first role model was my grandfather who was a cardiologist in my hometown,” Dr. Shapiro begins. “Interestingly, I actually never got to meet him. He passed away well before I was born. But the stories that my grandmother, father and the rest of the family would tell about his involvement in the community helped steer me toward medicine.”

From a young age, Dr. Shapiro had a passion for helping people. She was curious to understand how things worked. While she did follow a conventional route to medical school, the people and experiences she encountered along the way were anything but ordinary.

Dr. Shapiro attended Rutgers University, where she was able to encounter many people of all differing experiences and beliefs. She also studied in Israel for twelve months, followed by a residency at Einstein in the Bronx, where she developed a broad network of connections.

How do you think your international exposure has helped influence the way you see patients within the US?

“I think the thing that actually influenced me more was during the residency, I did a month in Uganda as part of residency,” Dr. Shapiro responded. It was there she got to see what it looked like to live in real poverty with very little opportunity or chance for success.

“I think that influenced me in a way to really try and help people as best I possibly could, but also never take for granted all of the things that we can actually do for our patients here in the United States.” Dr. Shapiro added that while there are times she is frustrated with the US health care system, she goes back to remind herself of the tremendous opportunities that exist. She remembers what it was like for patients in Uganda to have nothing and has a renewed sense of gratitude for all she has.

Experiences like she had in Uganda have shaped Dr. Shapiro’s perspective and have given her a greater sense of compassion for those who have a lower socioeconomic status. She states, “I think the other thing is that for people who are potentially of a lower socioeconomic status or who have a lot of social determinants of health that are impacting their health care, that this is the greatest opportunity that we have. We have the most capacity to do good and to help, whereas people of means can go anywhere. They have lots of choices and lots of ways to get healthcare, but our patients really need us. This is where we can potentially do the most good.”

What role have mentors played in your personal journey?

“I would say my most significant mentor was my advisor during residency,” Dr. Shapiro replied. There she met Dr. Joseph DeLuca and interviewed with him for residency.

Over time they struck up a friendship and Dr. DeLuca became the person Dr. Shapiro met with every six months to talk about progress. As Dr. Shapiro relates, “He was the person I went to when I was really struggling during residency, he was the person who gave me the opportunity to be chief resident. I got to have part of my career working very closely with him directly after my chief year. I think the thing that he taught me most of all was that being a clinician educator means caring about your residents.”

In addition, while everything comes down to patient care, it is also important to take care of those who are caring for patients.

Dr. Shapiro also believes it is important to be bold when reaching out to mentors. “I think the first thing I would remind people is to disavow themselves of that. You are important. If you weren’t important, you would not be in medical school, you would not be in residency and that your advisors are there doing this job because they care about you and because they want to help you succeed and help you grow.”

Be persistent, be curious, and continue the connections made with mentors. These are three important attributes Dr. Shapiro believes are essential for young mentees.

What is one thing you wish you knew when you entered medical school?

“I think the thing that I wish I knew at the beginning is that there will be profoundly difficult times and there will be challenges that you can’t even anticipate at this moment in your career. But if you remember the fundamentals of our profession, if you remember that our job is to care for people, to heal, to leave them better than they were before they came in contact with you. I think if you remember that, everything else can become just noise and that will kind of steer you in the right direction.”

Dr. Shapiro admits there have been times when she wanted to quit. She was burnt out or the work she was doing was too hard. But in those moments, she continued to come back to the privilege it is to care for people.

This is what helps her carry on in times of discouragement and difficulty.

Pearls of Wisdom

1. Be intentional in reaching out to mentors. Press beyond your doubts and make an extra effort to connect. Be persistent, even if this means reaching out several times.
2. Do not be afraid when you are confronted with a challenge. Ask for help on the front end, rather than waiting to fail and needing to ask for help down the road.
3. Do not forget the fundamentals during difficult times. Remember that our job is to care for people and leave them better than they were before they came in contact with us.