Building a successful career in biomedical research has become increasingly challenging. Becoming a successful scientist in this current highly competitive biomedical field is almost a “miracle” in some ways – it is a magical blend of personality traits, some productive mentor/trainee relationships, and some good luck!
What are the essential personality traits?
For the trainee, there are some fundamental attributes that are hard to mentor after graduating from college. I give a “coach-ability score” to the following traits with “1” being hardest to mentor:
- Curiosity: This an intrinsic personal character that is impossible to mentor.
- Work ethics: Physical and mental laziness kills quality work! Imposing lab rules might help a little but never works for projects that demand first-class performance. Work ethics are also reflected in how resilient a person is and whether a trainee has the tenacity to work towards something really hard – science.
- Empathy: One parenting book puts “empathy” as one of the most difficult skills to nurture; thus parents need to cultivate it earlier on. Why is it relevant in science? Empathy is the key to effective interpersonal communication. Be positive and confident in our own judgment while being open-minded and receptive to constructive criticisms requires one to have the capability to truly think from a different angle, putting him/herself into the other person’s perspectives. It makes sense, right? In reality, it is extremely hard to do. How much narcissism and ego we have? Are we truly appreciate the differences and trying to learn from each other?