A Conversation with Dr. Yael Schenker

“When we look at the resumes of successful people, and when we describe their list of accomplishments…what we don’t see in there, and what’s easy to forget is that behind every resume of success is an equally long, if not longer, resume of rejections.”

Bio

Dr. Yael Schenker is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine and Director of the Palliative Research Center at University of Pittsburgh where she mentors numerous medical students, residents, fellows and junior faculty in clinical and research settings. Dr. Schenker completed her medical school, residency and fellowship in general internal medicine from the University of California, San Francisco. Since joining University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Schenker has collaborated on numerous palliative care research projects with a primary focus in understanding and improving provision of palliative care in oncology. She has published widely on topics including surrogate decision making, informed consent, healthcare advertising and language barriers.

What were the major events that shaped your success?

“I have been really lucky in that I have been able to travel a somewhat windy path,” Dr. Schenker began, “meaning my journey to directing a palliative research center was not a direct one. I didn’t follow all the rules. I was a comparative literature major as an undergraduate in college, and I didn’t take a single pre-med class because I was still figuring out what I wanted to do, I was still figuring out what motivated me. And you really had to have a reason to jump into organic chemistry.”

She continues, “I spent four years as a complete major, learning how to think, learning how to craft an argument, learning how to write, and those turned out to be really important skills in a research career. And by the time I figured out I wanted to be a doctor I really knew why.”

“After college I was volunteering as a Spanish language translator in a community clinic in San Francisco. And I was incredibly motivated by the patients I saw there and listening to their stories, by the way the social and cultural issues were so intertwined with their medical illness. And so, when I went back and took the pre-med coursework, again, I really knew why I was there.”

What are some of the challenges you have faced on your journey?

“I didn’t follow the rules and do a research project during medical school,” Dr. Schenker reflected. “I, as a resident was part of a primary care research track at UCSF. And as part of that track, I started my first research project. And that project, again, didn’t follow any of the rules. The advice was to find that a shovel-ready project, data that had already been collected, somebody else’s project that you could take a piece of. I didn’t do that. I had a question that, again, was motivated by my observations. I felt like we weren’t doing a great job with informed consent with patients who didn’t speak English.”

From there, Dr. Schenker jumped into a primary data collection project as a second-year resident. During this season she was also pregnant and in her words she would have been, “doomed to failure without mentorship.”

But she found someone who believed in her and was willing to shepherd her through the difficult waters she faced. From her vantage point, “medicine is not a solo enterprise, it’s absolutely a team sport. And so, finding mentors, finding people who believe in you is absolutely important.”

What role have mentors played in your life?

“One thing to say is that mentorship starts from day one and continues through today, so you never grow out of needing mentors. And I think you need different kinds of mentors for different things.”

Dr. Schenker’s first research mentor at UCSF was someone who really believed in her. The more she watched her interact, the more she was hooked as a researcher. From that point on, mentorship was a priority to her.

As she looked for her first job, she made the decision to choose her position based on the quality of mentorship available. “The culture of mentorship at The University of Pittsburgh, we have a real strong culture of hands on mentorship. This is not a sink or swim kind of a place, and I think that’s really important in academic medicine.”

How do you discover mentors and gain the most value from this relationship?

“I think you need to ask strategically,” Dr. Schenker replied. “I think mentorship is absolutely one of my favorite parts of my job. People want to work with mentees who are creative. It’s a process of learning from each other, mentees who bring new ideas, mentees who have done their homework, who come prepared. And I think doing that, asking strategically, being clear about what you’re asking for, and then following up, and simple things, sending a thank you, people forget to do that. But those little things clue in mentors that you’re someone they’re going to want to work with.”

Dr. Schenker continues by adding that fit is important. You have to go through some growing pains as you recognize if this new mentoring relationship fits who you are and want to be.

“I think communication is really important, being clear about upfront what the expectations are, what the expected final product of that particular project or relationship is.”

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

“I think when you look at the resumes of successful people, and when we describe the list of accomplishments, what we don’t see in there, what it’s easy to forget about is that for every resume of successes, there is an equally long, if not longer, resume of rejections. And that, I think, is really important for us to remember at every stage of training, at every stage of our careers, and then to figure out how to navigate that.”

“For me, it’s been switching from self-esteem to figuring out how to be kind to myself when things don’t go well, sometimes called self-compassion, figuring out how to keep that connection to what’s most important to me, because that’s what gets you through. And I think that’s what I’ve learned and continue to learn, and I think becomes really important in this career.”

Pearls of Wisdom

1. Know your why. When you know your why it gives you the stimulus and energy to pursue your passions.
2. Medicine is not a solo enterprise. It is a team sport. You need others around you who will build you up and provide you with encouragement.
3. Be kind to yourself in the face of failure. Try to look at situations from a productive perspective instead of growing frustrated and anxious.