Making Lasting Connections

Junior faculty orientation ensures a welcoming transition

Image: iStock

Image: iStock

Harvard Medical School counts among its strengths a vast faculty and an extensive network of affiliates. These same advantages, however, can make it challenging for new faculty members to connect with one another and with the School and its many resources.

To help address this challenge, a junior faculty orientation program has been in place since 2010, which is designed to ensure that new faculty members have a welcoming transition and are able to successfully connect to available resources and with one another.

Additional goals of the program include providing new faculty members with career planning assistance and introducing them to academic leaders and other established faculty members.

At the Fall 2014 orientation event, faculty members affirmed that the program has been successful in achieving these goals.

Justin Sanders.“The faculty orientation event not only helped me connect with other new faculty members, but it showed me the best way to make connections at HMS that are most relevant to my work. One can’t help but be impressed by the breadth and depth of knowledge from which to benefit in this community,” said Justin Sanders, an HMS instructor of medicine at Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

“The number of resources available to new faculty are tremendous,” Sanders said. “To have representatives from each of the programs in one place was incredibly helpful, especially given work schedules that do not always allow for the time to explore each program in turn. I was particularly interested in the HMS Academy resources and the ways in which I can use their programs to develop as a medical educator.”

Juan Ding. Image: Peter Mallen, Schepens Eye Research Institute.Similarly, Juan Ding, an HMS instructor in ophthalmology at Schepens Eye Research Institute, said she also enjoyed the opportunity to network with other faculty members.

“I got to know several other junior faculty, including one clinician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, one clinical researcher from Massachusetts General Hospital, and one basic researcher from Dana-Farber. I learned about their research interests and their career development goals, and we exchanged cards for future contact,” said Ding.

In addition to the networking opportunities afforded by the event, Ding said a highlight for her was the career development panel discussion.

“I particularly enjoyed the panel discussion on career development and how to balance work and life. The faculty members were all incredibly frank, honest and fun at the same time,” said Ding.

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For faculty members who were unable to attend the orientation but are interested in learning more about these topics, the Office for Faculty Affairs website offers a variety of resources, including a video of a career development panel discussion and a variety of guidelines and tools for successfully navigating the promotions process.

Click here for registration information for the spring orientation event scheduled for May 7, 2015.