WDS Young Physician Spotlight: Susan Pei, MD

Susan Pei, MD is an Assistant Professor at the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. 

 

How did you become involved in the WDS and what benefits do you think WDS membership provides for residents/young physicians?

I became involved in WDS during residency. Dr. Molly Hinshaw, one of the faculty attendings at my program, would always invite residents, female and male, to attend WDS events and talks, including generously paying for WDS sponsored networking luncheons at the AAD annual meetings. Her enthusiasm and support really helped many residents such as myself realize the great benefits of WDS, such as networking, professional development and career opportunities. I was also fortunate to be able to attend a WDS Forum as a resident through a grant, which allowed me to present a poster. At the WDS Forum I was very impressed by how all the senior members were welcoming and eager to mentor junior members, the camaraderie and energy, and the very specific career and life advice such as on work life balance, contract negotiations, etc., that applied specifically to female physicians. Residents and young physicians can find multiple mentors to model diverse career paths in dermatology. The resident educational series and the regular networking meetings are also great and shows WDS’s commitment to enhancing young physicians' career every step of the way. 

 

At what point did you decide that you wanted to do academics versus private practice? What's the biggest challenge you've faced in your chosen area?

I think the line between academics and private practice is becoming more flexible especially in dermatology, which I view as an asset in my field. I didn’t specifically set out with a fixed idea of “academics vs private practice” when I began my job search, but rather identified which elements I want in my ideal job and would make me the happiest. The elements I wanted are: opportunity to teach, a mix of complex and routine dermatology/dermatopathology cases and the ability to work up and manage the complex cases, opportunity to do scholarly work, and ability to develop expertise in a subspecialty. You can see that these individual elements aren’t necessarily restricted to academic settings; it’s possible to blend these elements into private practice settings as well. I kept an open mind during my job search, and looking back, I’m extremely glad that I interviewed for positions in a wide variety of settings, including academic hospitals, community based hospitals, private equity backed groups and small private practices. It allowed me not only to identify more clearly what practice setting would be best suited for getting all or most of the elements I wanted, but also allowed me to assess the pros and cons of each setting, including exposing me to pros and cons I would have never even thought of or realized potentially existed. I would really encourage residents to keep an open mind. I’m currently practicing at an academic cancer hospital. The biggest challenge is adapting to working in a large institutional setting. Although large institutions allow for the benefits of pooled resources and infrastructure, they come also with inefficiencies and issues that may require longer time and more systemic measures to improve. It requires more patience and understanding of how a big institution with multiple moving parts work.



Advice to young physicians regarding leadership?  

Taking leadership roles can sound daunting but leadership is not an “all or nothing” proposition. There are many small ways one can start to become a leader. Pick a small area that you’re passionate about and see if there are existing committees or positions in that area that you can join. Sometimes becoming a leader means taking incremental steps, even just being consistently present and showing up to volunteer your time and energy is helpful. Once you get more comfortable and more invested in an area you care about, you will find that you will naturally want to achieve more, organize more, innovate more, push the envelope more. In essence, becoming a leader in that field. There are also many existing structures and pathways towards leadership within many of the academic dermatology societies. Take advantage of these and don’t be afraid to reach out to those in leadership positions to let them know of your interest. People typically want to mentor and support emerging leaders.

Who were/are your mentors?

I have been very fortunate and am grateful to have had many mentors. During medical school, Dr. Maria Tsoukas engaged me in dermatology through working on projects and writing manuscripts, and she always made me feel that anything is possible. From residency to now, Dr. Molly Hinshaw has also been a wonderful and inspiring mentor, having given me a lot of advice on the field of dermatopathology and work career balance. My fellowship director, Dr. Rosalie Elenitsas, has been instrumental in my training and I continue to seek her wise counsel on everything ranging from career advice to tough dermatopathology cases. I am also very lucky to have Dr. Adam Rubin guide me, such as on navigating challenges and developing strategies for success in academics as a junior faculty. Both Dr. Adam Rubin and Dr. Emily Chu have helped me in networking with clinicians in my field of academic interest and introducing me to working with academic journals and the field of academic publishing.

 

What are you working on now? What future goals do you have?

I’m working to develop a subspecialty clinic in cutaneous adverse reactions to targeted and immunotherapies at our cancer hospital. It’s a fascinating field with the many new therapies now available for cancer, and provides great clinicopathologic correlation uniting my dual background in dermatology and dermatopathology. It’s extremely satisfying to provide supportive oncodermatology care to our cancer patients, as cutaneous adverse effects can severely impact their quality of life, not to mention if under recognized or under treated, may prompt unnecessary or premature discontinuation of their life saving cancer therapies. My future goals include incorporating clinical research in this field. I also enjoy teaching and while our hospital does not currently have a dermatology residency program, I plan to be involved in helping our hospital establish a program in the future. Currently I teach dermatology residents virtual dermatopathology at another institution and I hope to be able to expand upon that and develop innovative ways to teach dermatopathology utilizing advances in technology and teledermatopathology.

 

Do you have advice to young physicians on achieving work/life balance?

I’m still learning to achieve a healthy work life balance! One of the best piece of advice I’ve received comes from my mom, who used to tell me when I was growing up, in Chinese, that “time is something you squeeze out”, meaning that we have to actively make time to have time. So I consciously budget time not only for work items, but for relaxation, for family, for hobbies. You can’t be passive about it. Time for family and leisure won’t happen “as soon as I finish my work” because there is always more work that can be done. Instead, I try to set clear boundaries because with our phones, tablets, computers now, it’s very easy to bring work home and lose that distinction between work, life and leisure that is so vital to healthy living. I try to work harder and smarter when I’m in the office but it’s important to keep reminding yourself, it’s ok not to finish everything today—there is another day tomorrow. 

 

What do you like to do in your free time?

I love trying new restaurants and traveling with family and friends. Lately I’ve also been dabbling in creative writing. I also like to read about fields outside of medicine and seek inspiration from leaders in diverse fields ranging from culinary arts to fashion.