Virtual Mentor

An Interview With...

Allen Greiner, MD, MPH, Associate Professor
Department of Family Medicine

Recipient of the: William T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence 2003

POSITION: Medical Director / Health Officer for the Health Department of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, KS and Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine.

WHAT IS YOUR HOMETOWN?
Topeka, Kansas

WHEN DID YOU JOIN THE KUSOM FACULTY?
1998

HOW/WHEN DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN SCIENCE AND MEDICINE?
During college taking a neuroscience class

IS THERE A TEACHER OR MENTOR WHO HELPED SHAPE YOUR CAREER?
Bill Bartholome – made medicine realistic and important as a service enterprise for me

HOW OR WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THE KU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE?
In-state tuition – knew I’d be comfortable here.

WHAT KINDS OF PROFESSIONAL OPPORTUNITIES OR ADVANTAGES DOES BEING A FACULTY MEMBER AT KUSOM PROVIDE? WHAT ABOUT CHALLENGES?
Opportunities:
Unlimited opportunities to be involved and make a difference with students, patients, and in community.

Challenges:
Limited resources a challenge but also reduces politics and internal competition amongst faculty

PLEASE DESCRIBE YOUR PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS?
Health disparities research, service to the underserved and community leadership in health and public health

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR OUTSIDE INTERESTS?
Golf, biking, family activities with wife and kids

IN WHAT WAYS ARE YOU ENGAGED WITH THE GREATER KANSAS PUBLIC?
In local public health, through research and public speaking outreach and service (Jaydoc etc.)

DO YOU HAVE AN INSIGHT OR PHILOSOPHY THAT GUIDES YOU IN YOUR PROFESSIONAL WORK?
Serve those in need first and foremost – everything else will happen as it should

IF YOU COULD CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT THE WORLD (OR THE WORLD OF MEDICINE/SCIENCE), WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Universal health coverage and more social programs for the underprivileged

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHANGE YOU'VE EXPERIENCED IN YOUR FIELD SINCE YOU WERE A STUDENT?
The rise and fall of managed capitated care as a delivery model

WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE FUTURE OF MEDICINE?
Interdisciplinary collaboration, focus on IT and quality improvement, cost sharing, and new technologies with high costs

WHAT PARTICULAR SKILLS ACQUIRED DURING YOUR GRADUATE CAREER DO YOU FIND MOST VALUABLE IN YOUR PROFESSIONAL CAREER TODAY?
Research, writing, and public health skills

WHAT ONE PIECE OF ADVICE YOU WOULD GIVE TO:
MEDICAL STUDENTS:
get involved in service and volunteer work from day one- don’t study so much

GRADUATE STUDENTS:
stay balanced- find a research area you are passionate about

RESIDENTS:
be efficient- jump through the hoops and preserve yourself

JUNIOR FACULTY:
Choose and area of focus and crave out a niche so your work is valued

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS THE KEY REASON THAT LED TO YOUR SELECTION OVER ALL OTHERS IN 2004 FOR BEING PRESENTED ONE OF THE PRESTIGIOUS TEACHING AWARDS – THE KEMPER?
work on setting up and mentoring the Jaydoc student leaders was a key teaching success for me

AS A VIRTUAL MENTOR, PLEASE OFFER YOUR ADVICE TO NEW AND/OR JUNIOR FACULTY ON A TOPIC OF YOUR CHOICE.

TOPIC 1:
Asking for Help – this is a big one. Don’t be shy, develop a network of those who you can turn to in confidence, inside and outside of your department and across the entire University, spend the time developing these relationships and then ask for help after you have offered your help and assisted with some things. This will be mutually beneficial for the long haul

TOPIC 2:
Being Turned Down, Feeling You’ve Failed (with Grants) – never give up, keep submitting, 4-5 grants per every one funded should be in the back of your mind. Take a long term approach; don’t feel bad if things take 4-6 years to work out.

TOPIC 3:
Elements of Being a Successful Investigator – find a good mentor, get involved in the work of others and get on research teams – go to meetings, help with design, data collection and analysis, make presentations, write papers and grants and then stick to it for years

TOPIC 4:
Engaging Students in Large Classes – be ridiculously confident, practice by failing at this a few times, walk around the room, ask the students questions and don’t be afraid of silence, make the topic clinically relevant somehow if you are lecturing to med students

TOPIC 5:
Mindset of 1st Year Medical Students – paranoid, feeling abused, jaded – help them with this by breaking it down and reminding them why they came here in the first place – help them see they can have a fulfilling life helping people – if you add to their feeling of being pummeled they are simply more likely to end up feeling entitled as future doctors (they may become self-serving, egocentric, workaholics you would never want as your doctor) – try and keep this all in mind.

TOPIC 6:
Organize – try and build in time to be organized – say no to some things so you will have the time to keep a semi-clean office and use organizational tools (email, calendar, secretaries, spreadsheets, etc.)

TOPIC 7:
Planning Now for a Promotion – get a mentor, get on research teams, start writing papers and grants now so you can become a good writer – the publications and grants will come if you learn to write a little each day now

TOPIC 8:
Using e-mail to enhance Student Learning – be accessible via email – to everyone – students, patients, colleagues – it is a pain but it will pay off in the end

TOPIC 9:
What Makes Good Teachers Great? – trying and failing at it and until you no longer get nervous and your confidence becomes automatic

TOPIC 10:
Your Teaching Portfolio – keep everything in a big binder – email copies, articles that mention your name, evaluations from courses, videotapes, photographs