The Professional Mission
Statement:
Defining Your Career Goals
OSUCOM Center for FAME
John D. Mahan MD
Ryan Nash, MD, MA
1.9.15
Chinese Proverb
If we don’t change our direction,
we are likely to end up where we are
headed!
The Vision: Key to Defining
Your Professional Mission Statement
Identify personal goals and interests
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What do you value?
What does the organization value?
What can you share with mentor and
colleagues
Revisit often ?Post in office
Define your Professional Mission
Statement to address your Vision/Goals
Enact your Plan
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Set priorities!
Ensure productivity – minimize surprises
Vision/Mission
Vision
Defines the optimal desired future
state - the mental picture - of
what you want to accomplish,
what the future should be
Provides guidance and inspiration
for you mission and efforts in the
next 1, 5 , 10 or more years
Is written succinctly, in an
inspirational manner, and is also
useful for sharing with
supervisors, mentors and
colleagues
Mission
Defines your purpose – what you
want to be and do in your
profession
Answers 3 questions about you
WHAT you will do
WHO it is for
HOW you will do it
It is written succinctly in one
sentence
It is something that you can share
with supervisors, mentors and
colleagues and use to assess the
value of any new activities (asked
of you or in your interest)
Defining
Your
Professional
Mission
Statement
5
Professional Mission Statement:
Undesirable Examples
PMS: To be the best cardiologist I can be
PMS: To be the best faculty teacher of
medical students
PMS: To be outstanding in research,
clinical care and education
Professional Mission Statement:
Desirable Examples
PMS: To become an expert in
incorporating patient/parent education in
improving care of children with sickle cell
disease
PMS: To be a leader in the field of
developing new anti-cancer compounds
for treatment of patients with leukemia
PMS: To be a national leader in developing
evidence based education in cardiology
training
Professional Mission Statement:
Desirable Examples
Vision
Children with sickle cell
disease will have better
clinical outcomes as a
result of better
patient/parent education
Patients with leukemia will
benefit from new anticancer drugs developed at
OSU
Professional Mission
Statement
To become an expert in
incorporating
patient/parent education
in improving care of
children with sickle cell
disease
To be a leader in the field
of developing new anticancer compounds for
treatment of patients with
leukemia
Defining
Your
Professional
Mission
Statement
9
Current Projects List
1. List your current working projects.
2. Rate degree of congruence (H, M, L, Not) with your PMS and Perceived
Priority of YOUR Supervisor (Division Chief/Department Chair)
Specific Project / Activity
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Completion
Date
PMS
Supervisor Priority
Matching Mission
Reflect and Align
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What motivates your professional mission
statement? Why do you want to do what you
want to do? - is this part of a belief, experience,
value, etc.?
What is your institutional mission statement? And
that of your Department, Division, Center, etc?
Usually it is general and allows diversity.
How does your mission statement and underlying
values align with that of your institution?
When busy or stressed can you recognize this
alignment?
Homework
Develop and refine your Professional Mission
Statement
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Develop your PMS – share with your Supervisor/Boss,
with your Mentor within next month
Re-visit your PMS with your Mentor/Supervisor every
6-12 months
Re-visit your Professional Mission Statement
quarterly as a junior faculty; at least every 6
months as senior faculty
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Share concerns with your supervisor
Create/use your Current Projects List
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Understanding your projects/priorities
Live your plan!
“Plans are
only good
intentions
unless they
immediately
degenerate
into hard
work.”
Peter Drucker
“Plans are nothing;
planning is everything.”
Dwight Eisenhower
References
Simpson DE, Fincher RM. Making a case for the teaching scholar. Acad
Med. 1999 Dec;74(12):1296-9.
Umiker W. Developing a mission statement for self and family. Health
Care Superv. 1998 Dec;17(2):39-44.
McCurdy FA. Marcdante K. Setting a personal career direction. J
Cardiovasc Manag. 2003 Mar-Apr;14(2):18-21.
Rojas-Guyler L, Murnan J, Cottrell RR. Networking for career-long
success: a powerful strategy for health education professionals.
Health Promot Pract. 2007 Jul;8(3):229-33.
Thanks!!!
Deborah Simpson, Ph.D. Professor, Family and Community Medicine, Associate
Dean for Educational Support and Evaluation Medical College of Wisconsin
Lewis R. First, M.D. Professor and Chair, Pediatrics, University of Vermont
School of Medicine
Ed Zalneraitis, MD. Pediatric Program Director, Professor and Associate Dean,
University of Connecticut
Bill Smoyer, MD. VP Clinical and Translational Research, Nationwide Children’s
Hospital, Professor Pediatrics, OSU COM