May 13, 2024 • 51 mins
Meet the Neurotransmitters! In this episode, we go behind the scenes with The Neurotransmitters team: Drs. Tirtha Sawant, Rida Farhan, and Ricardo Vivanco. They reflect on their personal journeys as international medical graduates (IMGs) seeking mentorship and pursuing residency in the US.
- Struggling to find mentors?
- Not sure about the dynamics between a mentor-mentee relationship?
- Learning to navigate the virtual world of networking?
- Trying to overcome shyness? Find it hard to reach out to people?
Tune in to listen to some heartfelt stories and actionable tips that will hopefully inspire and empower you in your own journey!
You can find Dr. Ricardo Vivanco on Twitter/X at @DrVivancortex, Dr. Rida Farhan at @ridafarhan and Dr. Tirtha Sawant at @tirthasawant10
- Check out our website at www.theneurotransmitters.com to sign up for emails, classes, and quizzes!
- Would you like to be a guest or suggest a topic? Email us at contact@theneurotransmitters.com
- Follow our podcast channel on 𝕏 @neuro_podcast for future news!
- Find me on 𝕏 @DrKentris
The views expressed do not necessarily represent those of any associated organizations. The information in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and does not represent specific medical/health advice. Please consult with an appropriate health care professional for any medical/health advice.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr. Michael Kentris (00:01):
Hello and welcome back to The
Neurotransmitters, your sourcefor all clinical
neurology-related learning.
So I'm your host, Dr MichaelKentris.
I'm very pleased today to havesome multiple very special
guests with me.
So, as some of you who followus on X may be aware, the
(00:21):
Neurotransmitters social mediaaccount's been picking up over
the last year and particularlast few months, and I'm joined
today by my team members Drs.
Tirtha Sawant, Rida Farhan andRicardo.
Dr. Ricardo Vivanco (00:35):
Oh, my God.
Dr. Michael Kentris (00:35):
Ricardo Vivanco.
Dr. Ricardo Vivanco (00:38):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you got it.
Dr. Michael Kentris (00:42):
So, oh so embarrassing.
The problem is your Twitterhandle is not your last name, so
it always throws me offwhenever I have to find you
online.
I'm so happy we might cut thatlater in post.
I'll leave it up to Rida'sdiscretion, but uh these are the
people who have been helping meto build the neurotransmitters
over the last year and and I amso grateful to all of them.
(01:04):
So when they came to me withthis idea of reflecting on what
has it meant to be aninternational medical graduate
applying to the US, match, thevalues of mentorship in various
capacities, I thought it was agreat idea and hopefully will
help a lot of our listeners outthere.
So thank you all for coming onin front of the microphone today
(01:27):
and kind of sharing yourexperiences.
Dr. Tirtha Sawant (01:29):
Thank you for having us.
Dr. Michael Kentris (01:30):
Perfect, happy to be here, so let's just
have you all go around.
Ricardo, will you start us off?
Give us a little bit of yourbackground, tell us how you
wound up here with us.
Dr. Ricardo Vivanco (01:40):
Sure, yeah.
So I am a medical graduate fromEcuador.
I actually graduated in 2022.
So I first met Dr Kentristhrough this Google form,
through X, formerly Twitter.
I didn't get used to the X name, but I signed up for being, you
(02:06):
know, graphic designerassistant for the podcast.
You know, medical education andinfographics is something that
I have always been interested in, and especially if it's
something related to neuro.
So it was nothing.
It was not a difficult decision,I would say, even though at
(02:29):
that time, I was writing mypersonal statement and I decided
to focus on the success.
But then I met this incredibleteam of people that has been
very supportive through thematch but also has taught me
several things, not only onneuro, but also about how to
handle these team meetings and,you know, organize what we
(02:52):
should publish on Twitter or thewebsite, and you know, it's
been great, great teamwork.
But then I think that we arehere today for because we should
talk about mentorship and I Iwant to start talking about,
maybe, my experience regardingthe match, but also through
(03:17):
medical school.
So I think I consider myself avery shy person, so maybe that's
why it was hard for me toapproach someone on X initially,
and I think maybe through allmy medical school I didn't have
(03:39):
a mentor, let's say, but a fixedmentor.
I had several professors whowould help me whenever I needed
to, but no one that would guideme to where I need, what I
wanted to be.
So I remember that I took mystep one during medical school,
(04:01):
which was a hard decision,because I did that all by
watching YouTube videos about,you know, the match process and
how to study for step one andwhat else.
And I remember that at first I,you know, I didn't even consider
doing my residency in theUnited States.
I just wanted to see how I wasdoing compared to medical
(04:26):
students from abroad.
You know, us has always been abig, a leading country in
science and you know, medicineis not an exception.
So I started starting for mystep one, for that started, um,
(04:49):
uh, starting for my step one, uh, for that.
And then I knew if I justdidn't have the score, uh, that
I wanted, or I felt that I justcould go to another path, so, uh
, but hopefully I I passed it.
And then I remember that afterthat, I reached to one of my
first mentors at that time.
After that, I reached to one ofmy first mentors at that time,
(05:11):
who became a great friend, who Ihaven't met in person yet, but
it's an Ecuadorian who you knowis doing.
It is right now it's aneurologist, a board certified
neurologist there in the UnitedStates, and I remember talking
with him and talking a littlebit anxious about my process and
how I was worried about gettingthese medical rotations in the
(05:32):
United States and if it wasworth it because of the cost and
the time, or should I do otherthings?
And this was after my step one.
So there were some options, butnot a lot of options as we know
, as IMGs there are.
So the thing I remember themost about that conversation
(06:06):
with him was the relief I feltabout him telling me that I was
doing pretty good actually,because he took the step one
after graduating from medicalschool.
And you know, and and it's, youknow, it's it's a very
different thing to watchingthrough, you know, youtube
videos and knowing in insidemyself that I'm going through
the right path.
But someone else telling me,someone else that has gone
(06:26):
through that path, it's a verydifferent thing and I think I
appreciated that kind of reliefat that time.
So I think that was my firstturning point and a kind of
cheer up for my journey throughthis match process.
So then I was, I kept incontact with him and I actually
(06:54):
met a lot of more people throughhim.
You know, he kind of put me incontact with some other
Ecuadorians there in the Stateseither doing research fellows on
neurology or doing residency inneurology there.
And then I met, I think, myother mentor.
(07:14):
That has, you know, has becomeone of the conversations with
him, has become one of theturning points of my match
process with him has become oneof the turning points of my
match process.
I remember that after doing acouple of rotations I wasn't
sure if I was ready for applyingto the match and I was
considering on doing a researchfellowship first, which will
(07:34):
take me another year and maybepostpone my application for
another year.
And actually he told me that inhis opinion I should apply as
early as possible.
I had graduated, maybe it wasone year after my graduation.
So that was a conversation,maybe a little more of a year
(08:00):
ago, maybe a little more, butthen that's the reason, maybe
he's the reason I am playingthis year and I'm very grateful
for that because you know, ifnot maybe I wouldn't get.
Things would have to get morecomplicated, maybe I wouldn't
get this research fellowshipposition and maybe I will have
spent much more money that Ihave spent till now.
(08:24):
So, having his counsel, hisadvice, was pretty, pretty, uh
valuable at the time and youknow, um, I think I owe them a
lot, um, to these two mentors.
And then during my match process, uh, I've met also other
wonderful people who has helpedme, either with interviews or,
(08:45):
you know, writing my personalstatement, um, or sponsor me on
twitter, like dr countrieshimself.
So, uh, I'm pretty careful forthat and I think the bottom line
of all of what I'm saying isthat, um, you should not be shy
in terms of applying for, youknow, seeking help and applying
(09:09):
to the match.
What I've learned is that mostof the IMGs and some of the, you
know, american residents noresidents, but neurologists or
physicians like Dr Kentris arewilling to help for several
reasons.
For several reasons, but mostlyIMGs because they have a
(09:35):
feeling of giving back what theyreceived when they were
applying.
So that could be my firstadvice seeking help whenever
possible.
And then the second one isaccepting every help as possible
, because there are differenttype of mentors and every help
and every advice, every point ofview from them is always
valuable and you could takewhatever you like or not.
(09:59):
Take whatever you dislike, soit's always your opinion, so
yeah.
Dr. Michael Kentris (10:05):
All great points, thank you.
Dr. Ricardo Vivanco (10:09):
I don't know, and maybe Rida or Tirtha
has different opinions abouttheir journeys on the match.
Dr. Rida Farhan (10:19):
So maybe you could share.
Yeah, sure, so I'm Rida and I'ma medical graduate from
Pakistan.
I graduated in 2021.
And so I mean, I'm just goingto give a little background from
where I'm coming from, whichbasically is why I needed
somebody as a mentor.
(10:50):
First generation doctor like Iam one of the first people in my
um, immediate and extendedfamilies to become a doctor.
Um, and, believe me, I have nottried to explain the match
process to them.
Uh, um, and that is because, uh, earlier, when I was leaving
for my US rotations, I tried, Isat down and explained to them
for hours and why and what I wasworking towards.
(11:13):
And then, one month later, whenI was in the US, and so one of
my relatives of the extendedfamily members, who is a medical
student and is frequently intouch with me, she messaged me
and she was like your family washere and they have no idea what
you're doing.
And I was like, yeah, okay,nevermind about that.
(11:35):
So, so, so, and I mean there isno doctor, and then also, I
don't have any relatives in theUS as such, and and especially
like, within my community, it isnot exactly conventional to be
pursuing training or even highereducation abroad.
And so I faced quite somebacklash, especially as a girl.
(11:59):
I mean, they are now comingaround to sort of accepting it,
but I did not really have like astrong support system there.
And then all of my friends whoare applying to the match all of
them are coming with likefamilies of doctors and they
have relatives in the US andnobody was applying to neurology
.
So it just became like a veryisolating journey for me.
(12:24):
Um so uh, and last March, if Icompare, uh a year ago, I was
like uh, just having a, I wasfollowing the last match, um,
and people were posting on X, uh, how they have all these
mentors and how they're gratefulfor all of them, and I was like
(12:44):
so envious of all of thesepeople and I was like where are
they finding mentors?
And uh, and I mean I would likekill to have somebody like a
trusted adult to turn to forcareer advice.
Like that was a luxury, uh,that I did not have.
And, and I was hoping so, bythat time I had managed to get
like a few rotations aftermonths and months of cold
(13:07):
emailing.
So I was hoping when I go formy rotations I'll be able to
form this connection with mymentors, like my preceptors and
hopefully that will you knowsustain me through the match
cycle.
So I went with that expectationto the US.
So one thing that I would say,one advice that I would give, is
(13:30):
find the right people peopleyou want to, people who are in
the same field as you, peoplewho are on the same track that
you want to pursue.
Because there are, I know, asIMGs and I hate using the term
desperate, but we are sort ofdesperate for rotations and
people will take up anythingthey'll find.
So I've, like my mentors, myneurology mentors have told me
(13:54):
stories about people who apply Imean who came to them for
rotations saying that theywanted to apply to neurology and
then never apply to neurology,ended up applying to internal
medicine, and I mean that wastheir plan all along.
They were just not honest aboutit.
So do not be that person.
If you are seeking, like adifferent rotation, then at
(14:14):
least be honest with yourmentors, because if they are
taking a chance on you, theydeserve to know what you are
really applying for.
And that also ruins chances forthe other IMGs as well, because
one of my mentors actually saidthat you know she had stopped
taking observers.
For this reason, I had to bepersistent and prove my research
(14:37):
skills and eventually make myway through that.
But point being, don't do that.
You're just ruining things foryourself and for other people.
So that's one thing.
So, anyway, I went to the US inthe hopes of, you know, making
(14:57):
these great connections.
And then you know, witheverybody on X and Reddit, and
people were like, if you know,you're at your A game, in the
rotations you will end up withthis excellent letter of
recommendation and all of myrotations were like a month long
.
So three rotations for threemonths.
And so so I I came in with thisexpectation and I tried to, you
(15:20):
know, be at my A game, as Icould be, and but but in the, at
the end of the month, I did nothave that, that great
connection that I was hoping tohit Like it was.
It did not hit the sweet spotthat I was hoping.
It was a great and it was agood relation, but it wasn't
(15:42):
great.
So like it went from zero togood, it did not go from zero to
great and I ended up beingquite disappointed.
So when I was, like returning toPakistan, I was actually pretty
disheartened that I had done mybest and I still hadn't managed
to get that, you know, greatconnection that I was hoping for
(16:03):
, and even in the next.
So I started, um, some projectswith these mentors as well.
So I was in touch with themeven after I came to Pakistan
and I was working with them andby, I think I came back like at
the end of August, and byNovember I was still feeling
pretty um, gloomy about it.
That, uh, I had, you know I had, I was exhausted, trying to
(16:28):
prove myself to every new personand it's not going anywhere and
I'm not feeling it.
But then I think you know thecompounding effect happens over
time and in December some thingshappened that sort of made me
realize that all of thoseconnections had now gone from
good to great over time.
(16:50):
And that is like one thing inhindsight that I would say is do
not give it time.
Like any other relationship, amentor-mentor relationship is
going to take time.
You're not going to go fromzero to great immediately.
It will take a few months tobuild that trust and rapport.
And hang in there.
(17:11):
Uh, if you, if you feelexhausted, uh, hang in there and
eventually it will, it willwork out.
So, and coming to specificallyto Dr.
Kentris.
Uh, if you will let me, Ofcourse.
So I was in July.
(17:33):
He posted the volunteerannouncement and the call for
volunteers in mid-August.
Around that time and aroundlike one month earlier in
(17:54):
mid-July, I was rotating atVanderbilt in the epilepsy
monitoring unit and I wasscrolling and, unlike Ricardo, I
was not aware of Dr Kentris'ssuperstar status.
Dr. Michael Kentris (18:03):
That's an exaggeration at best.
I was not aware at all.
Dr. Rida Farhan (18:06):
I was following him, but I was not aware at all
.
I was following him, but I wasnot really familiar with
anything about him.
In my defense, he doesn't haveepileptologists in his bio.
Dr. Michael Kentris (18:21):
So that explains I used to, but I had to
cut back on the characters.
Dr. Rida Farhan (18:24):
Okay, Continuum Having continuum in your bio
should be enough.
No, for me it's the, for me,it's the epilepsy buzzword.
So so I was scrolling X, asusual, and I came across this
(18:44):
audiogram that you had postedwith your interview from Dr
Nupur Goel, and.
And for those who don't knowwhat audiogram that you had
posted with your interview fromDr Nupur Goel, and for those who
don't know what audiograms are,they are the snippets of audio
that we post on our X orwhatever social media you follow
us on, and if you don't, thenplease follow.
Dr. Ricardo Vivanco (19:04):
They're the backbone of the
Neurotransmitters account.
Dr. Rida Farhan (19:08):
Yeah, yeah, they're the backbone of the
neurotransmitters account.
Yeah, yeah so.
So I came across this audiogram, which I did not know was an
audiogram at that time, but, um,it was a snippet from, uh, the
interview with dr napoor goeland she was talking about how
her mentor, Dr Buletko, hadgiven her the advice on how to
um, change, to transform herchallenges into opportunities,
(19:32):
something along those lines.
I don't remember exactly, butthat is sort of something that I
resonate with a lot personallyand try to do.
And so that you know, I gotintrigued and I went to the
Neurotransmitters and that wasthe first podcast I listened to
and in that podcast Dr Kentrismentions that he did his
(19:55):
epilepsy fellowship atVanderbilt and I may or may not
have dropped the phone at thatpoint, just kidding, I didn't
but I did follow the channel andI was very intrigued and I did
stalk probably you or theneurotransmitters at that point,
(20:16):
and this is one month beforeyou had that call out from
volunteers.
So I I made a, I mean it.
It seemed interesting.
So I made a mental note thatI'm going to check this out once
.
Uh, I was in the middle of myrotations and traveling and all
of that at that time, so I waslike, once I'm done with this,
uh, I'm going to, you know,listen to a few more podcasts
(20:37):
and see what your deal is, andonce I, once I have some sense
of what you're trying to do orcreate, uh, I will send you a
well-informed email suggestingways on how I can be useful to
you.
So that was something on myto-do list even before you
(20:58):
posted your call for volunteers.
And then also, that's one thingthat happened at Vanderbilt.
And the other thing thathappened was I was talking to
this other um mentor and she andI was like we were talking
about, uh, neuro humanities andwe're talking about, like, the
love for creative writing, andand I was telling her, you know,
(21:20):
I'm trying to figure out wayson how to merge my non-medical
interests with medicine,specifically neuro, so graphic
designing and animation andwriting.
And she was like, whatever youdo, just start, like, get
involved somehow and startpublishing or doing something
about it, because once you do,then more opportunities will
(21:42):
open up.
And I wasn't sure because Imean, I'm not, I'm not, I don't
have any experience being aneurologist, I'm not even a
trainee yet, and I preferablywanted to do something in neuros
.
I wasn't sure how solo I can dosomething, you know.
So I was also kind ofreflecting over her advice and
(22:03):
thinking of ways I could dosomething.
And then I came across yourchannel and I was like, okay,
this is something I could give ashot.
But before I could give a shotyou posted the call for
volunteers and I was like oh, myGod.
And then I opened yeah, I openedthe Google Doc and I was like,
(22:28):
oh my God, that was the second.
Oh my God.
And I mean that was exactly.
I was like, oh, you're lookingfor me, you just don't know it
yet.
I'm kidding, I did not thinkthat, I'm just saying this, but
I did think that I am theperfect person for it and I mean
(22:50):
, the rest is history.
So I applied, but I havelearned a lot from him and he
could be the one mentor that Ican say not forced the one
mentor who has had a significantinfluence on my journey and my
growth, um, especially over thelast few months, and I I mean I
(23:18):
do.
I will take up extra things todo in the neurotransmitters as
an excuse to stay connected tohim, because I enjoy picking up
his brain.
Dr. Michael Kentris (23:26):
I'm very fortunate to have had your help
over the last year, Rida Thankyou.
Dr. Rida Farhan (23:32):
Thank you to you.
So yeah, so I am very gratefulto you and hopefully we will
continue beyond the match.
Dr. Michael Kentris (23:46):
Fingers crossed.
Dr. Rida Farhan (23:48):
What do you mean?
Fingers crossed?
Dr. Michael Kentris (23:50):
it's a.
Dr. Rida Farhan (23:50):
It's a good luck thing no, no, no, no, as in
you, you should be sure that weare going to continue beyond
the match well, yes, I mean, I'm, I'm confident of that part.
Dr. Michael Kentris (24:03):
I want, I want you all to have for those.
You know, we're recording thison march 1st, so we are, you
know, just a couple of weekspre-match at this point in time.
So by the time this comes out,we may, maybe we'll have an
addendum to record onto the endthere with some good news for
everybody.
But we are not yet through thematch.
(24:24):
So I'm hoping for good thingsfor everyone on the call.
Dr. Rida Farhan (24:31):
Okay, perfect, thank you.
Through the match.
So I'm hoping for good thingsfor everyone on the call.
Okay, perfect, thank you.
Um, so, yeah, so just last twosort of key um.
If you, if you like, asksomebody on how to take make the
(24:53):
most out of your rotations ormake the most out of your um
mentorships, people will tellyou to be on your a game, right,
so show up on time, be, etcetera.
And that is sort of consideredthe upper limit to being like be
the best you can.
It's like the upper limit.
But in my humble opinion, Ithink that should be the bare
(25:18):
minimum to do, because ifsomebody is taking a chance on
you, then honoring thatcommitment with 100% should at
least be the bare minimum.
And if you want to go above andbeyond, then reciprocate.
I'm sure all of the attendingshave too many things on their
to-do list and they wouldn'tmind if somebody takes some
(25:39):
things off their hands.
Do that.
Be that person.
Be the Jonathan that everyattending needs.
Um, be.
Be the jonathan that everyattending needs.
Yeah, so, so that, um, and andmake yourself useful.
So I mean, obviously nobody'sgoing to hand over things to you
.
So, like, if, if your mentor islike research focused and learn
(26:02):
some research skills if theyare like.
One of my um mentor is research, so I'm working with her on
researches, with Dr Kentris I'mworking on whatever social media
and podcast editing stuff, andwith another of my mentors.
She is like she has a privatepractice, so she has an
Instagram page and a website andyou know for, obviously,
(26:25):
promotion stuff and I ended upwriting blogs for her and you
know for obviously, promotionstuff and I ended up writing
blogs for her and you know,making infographics and stuff.
So I mean, that wasn't arequirement on my part as a
rotation, but that was like away of giving back to the mentor
and making things easier forthem or doing something that
would you know lead to theirsuccess.
Like it is a relation, like anyother relation, it's a give and
(26:46):
take relationship.
So if they're invested in yoursuccess, you invest in their
success.
It should go both ways.
That is something I staunchlybelieve in.
One and two virtual networking.
I have read a lot.
I had some friends ask me ifyou know being on Twitter landed
(27:07):
me interviews.
I had some friends ask me ifyou know being on Twitter landed
me interviews.
I've read posts on Redditsaying, oh, we're so glad we
never made these Twitteraccounts and get involved in all
the drama that is happening.
And again, I know we've had alot of drama this cycle.
But how you use your socialmedia is up to you.
If you want to be involved inthe drama, then fine.
(27:30):
But if you want to use itconstructively, you can.
Like that shouldn't be a pridefactor that you don't have an
account or you never went on x,uh.
There are many ways to use itconstructively and with so many
people who are coming in the meded space and especially, like,
as IMGs, you don't need, like,visa, you don't need financial
(27:52):
barriers, like all of thesebarriers are not there when it
comes to virtual networking.
So there is literally no reasonfor you to not be on social
media and connect with people.
And even if it doesn't land youinterviews, you will still have
a lot of update on what thecurrent you know things are
(28:12):
happening and let's in yourTwitter and that actually helped
me a lot in my interviews.
You know, just maintainingconversations with interviewers.
I mean, I don't know we'll seewhat happens on 15 March but
(28:51):
hopefully that we are veryintroverted and we don't know
how to network or we don't knowhow to connect.
That is fine.
I am a staunch introvert likeyou.
Don't have to just be allflashy or just go out and I mean
this is virtual networking justmake and literally you don't
even have to post anything Justfollow the right people and your
(29:13):
target audience.
If I use my social mediadirector terms, your target
audience shouldn't be fellowmatch applicants.
I mean sure you can connect withthem, but your target audience
should be people you aspire tobe.
I mean sure you can connect withthem, but your target audience
should be people you aspire tobe.
So, whoever is on the track thatyou want to pursue and you will
find many people and followthem and see what they're
(29:36):
posting there will be people inthe meta space who are posting
regularly and all of us knowthat posting on social media
consistently is not exactly apiece of cake.
And if you can learn some skillsthere are so many people who
are running podcast channels orYouTube channels and if you can
learn some skills like videoediting and podcast editing or
(30:02):
graphic designing, animationstuff like that infographics you
will actually be very useful toa lot of people out there and
you can, you know, just observethese people, how they're
posting, what they're posting,and, after you know, a couple of
months of observation andlearning some skills, reach out
to them with a thoughtfulmessage that this is how you can
(30:23):
be useful, like I hopefullywould have reached out to Dr
Kentris if he hadn't alreadyposted.
So do that and I think like ifyou start quite a few months
before the match, you, by thetime you are applying, you will
have like a great connection and, and you know, one connection
will lead to a few others andit's just just keeps compounding
(30:46):
then from there.
So yeah, those are some of mykey takeaways and my journey
(31:16):
attendings.
Dr. Michael Kentris (31:16):
I didn't, and it made life a lot harder
for me trying to, because I alsowas like a first generation
physician and so I didn't haveanyone in the family to really
ask advice from, didn't reallyhave any strong mentors in
medical school.
So I kind of I did it exactlythe wrong way in terms of using
all of these resources, thesesoft skills, if you will.
So I definitely recommendeverything you suggested as
(31:39):
being a better path than my own.
Thank you.
Last but not least, Tirtha,tell us a little bit about your
background there.
Dr. Tirtha Sawant (31:47):
Sure, hey, everyone listening in today and
thank you, ricardo and Rida, foryour wonderful journeys.
Even I didn't know that muchabout you guys, so it was great
listening to everything.
So, yeah, my name is TirthaSawant.
I also graduated in 2022 from aCaribbean medical school and I
met Dr Kentris last year aroundthis time.
(32:09):
To be very honest, I do noteven remember how and why I
reached out to him.
I think it was probably justfate.
I DM'd him on X or Twitter andit was mainly for just life
advice.
I was really at my lowest andhe was just there supporting me
and telling me to go on.
(32:30):
I believe it's very similar toyou know things that he had
experienced as a medical studentand I connected with him a lot
on those aspects.
And, moving on from there, wejust I just talked to him for
advice and you know strength,and then from there, I found out
that he narrates for Continuumand I asked him hey, you know,
(32:53):
this sounds really interesting.
And I was super scared because,being an IMG, of course we do
come with, you know, ourrespective unique accents.
And I remember asking him willI be able to do this?
One?
I'm not really techno savvy andtwo, like I'm going to have to
practice how to pronounce everyword you know in the American
(33:15):
accent.
And he said you know what,don't worry about that, we have
a great team and we'll you know,we are very welcoming.
So just give it a shot and tryto see.
And how it goes.
I remember recording my firstarticle for Continuum and around
three-fourths down the line Ihad to scrap it due to some
(33:35):
technical errors and I was so,so scared.
I remember texting him on myphone.
I'm like, hey, I don't think Ican do this.
The deadline is in like threedays.
I'm going to have to scrap thisaudio.
And he was like, listen, let mehelp you out, go to this, do
these controls, let me help youout.
You know, go to this, do thesecontrols, click on that.
He had me figure it out and Ire-recorded the entire article
(33:57):
again and it was when I didsubmit it and, ms Schroeder,
I've continued.
She got back to me.
She said I don't have any editsfor you.
You know, it's perfect, it'sgood to go.
And that was just amazing.
I feel like if, if not for hissupport and his push, I probably
(34:17):
would have given up with thatone audio that seemed to destroy
my life at that point.
And then, you know, moving on,he he did mention about
neurotransmitters Vaguely.
It wasn't really a publishedwebsite at the time and it was,
you know, like his abstractideas.
We all know dr Kentris.
He can talk for hours and hoursdescribing what he's working on
(34:39):
.
Um, so, yeah, I remember uhjust telling him once, hey, if
you ever need help, just let meknow.
And he said, yeah, I'll holdyou on to that.
And then I guess it was was inJune or July when he did reach
out and I was like I would loveto help you, like I may not know
what needs to be done to youknow, launch the website and get
(35:02):
volunteers and everything, butI just want to be a part of
giving back to you.
For me it's like I love workingwith people.
I think gratitude in thisindustry, in medicine and
healthcare, is extremelyimportant and I just wanted to
be a part of his journey, of,you know, his journey to success
and stardom, as you called it.
(35:24):
So yeah, it was.
It was fun working with himInitially.
You know sort of brainstormingideas how to get more volunteers
and, uh, every aspect ofneurotransmitters, podcasts and
quizzes.
And you know how the socialmedia is going to work around.
Um, yeah, and it was wonderful.
I got to learn a lot from him.
(35:45):
I got to learn a lot from youguys.
I think I, I it's.
It's very important in thementor mentee relationship,
where you it's a two way streetright you get to learn a lot and
also your mentor does.
I guess I hope they also get tolearn a lot from us.
So I got to learn how to makeinfographics and how to edit
(36:06):
audios and how to make posts andyou know all of that.
And had it not been for him andhis platform, I wouldn't have
ever learned these skills.
So it's a huge thank you to DrKentris.
And moving on to generally inthe world of mentorship and
social networking, yes, as IMGsand I think having that
(36:28):
advantage of being Gen Zs, wehave taken advantage of, you
know, the social networkingworld and having everything at
the tip of our fingers with youknow, virtual networking and
even though last year I didn'thave a lot of followers and I
was like a nobody, just watchingpeople posts and, you know,
(36:51):
just figuring out how are theydoing this, how are they?
You know, don't, don't theyhave any social anxiety, um, but
I sort of overcame that and Isaw the the the bigger picture
of social media and how, likeyou mentioned, how you can use
it constructively, and due tothat, I reached out to a lot of
uh people, but not in a way thatto bother them I don't think I
(37:15):
went down the route of coldemailing.
I put in a lot of research interms of which physician
attending is doing somethingthat I feel value in, because I
really wanted to reach out tothem and see if I can contribute
to you know their platform,whether it was my volunteer
organization, whether it was myresearch mentor, uh, each one of
(37:38):
them is someone that I wouldsay I I had picked, and I feel
like that sort of came in myemail when I did reach out to
them that I really want to workwith you.
Uh, this is something thatresonates with me and that's one
advice I would give toapplicants this year or in the
following years that you knowthey do say a lot that you have
to email a bunch of people.
(38:00):
It may work for some, it maynot work for some, but if you
really do know your specialtyand your niche and where you
could contribute best.
I would highly suggest to reachout to those people and see if
they're willing to help you.
And there are a lot of peopleout there who, you know, do this
without any other benefits orexpectations, like Dr Kentris
(38:23):
himself.
And yeah, if you reach out tothe right people and if you have
something to give to them, youcan definitely, you know, find
it worthwhile working for themas well.
And there was another thinglike even in terms of the match,
I'm sure NMatch, the platformthat sort of paired us with, you
know, our mentors.
(38:43):
I hope he's also listening into this podcast because I would
love to give him a shout out.
I won't mention his name here,but he's been very instrumental
as well.
Would love to give him a shoutout.
I won't mention his name here,but he's been very instrumental
as well in terms of just advice,career advice about programs,
about my application andeverything related to the match.
So we just being very gratefulto have these mentors in every
(39:09):
field and sort of learning fromthem.
And this person being, you know, a PGY1 resident, it really
shows that a mentor doesn'treally always have to be an
attending as well, it could justbe a friend, it could just be
someone who's already matchedand willing to help you, and
there are so many out there whoare willing to help you in these
(39:30):
aspects.
And yeah, moving on from there,I feel like you guys have
covered a lot of topics and I'mlike getting blank now.
Yeah, just final advice for youknow, this relationship of
mentors and mentees is beconsistent.
(39:50):
As mentees, we have to be theone to sort of plan things right
.
We, you know, it's obvious weneed the help more and they are
the ones you know just beinggrateful and sort of giving us
the right direction.
So it's important for us, asmentees, to be consistent,
respond to their emails andreally structure your schedule
(40:11):
according to you know theirlifestyle, because these are
attendings or residents orphysicians who may be extremely
busy, and every second that theysort of devote to your journey
is extremely important and it'simportant to show that gratitude
as well.
So, you know, present day it'sbeen over a year I've been
(40:31):
working for neurotransmittersand I love the people that I
work with.
Being the director of personnel, I think it suits my
personality.
Like I said, I love workingwith people, I love learning
from people.
I do think all of us have ourstrengths that we contribute to
as a team, and Dr Kentris beingthe guru, the king of the jungle
(40:54):
, he's definitely sort ofbrought out the best from each
one of us.
So, yeah, just very happy to behere and making this for him.
Dr. Michael Kentris (41:05):
No, it's been great having all of you
involved with this.
As you all know, I do tear atthis point.
I can ramble on about ideasforever and then, uh, my
execution needs a little bit of,uh, just encouragement from
time to time, which I appreciate, uh, despite my sometimes
(41:26):
cranky demeanor.
So so, thank you all forkeeping me on the straight and
narrow and making sure you knowthat that is one of the great
things that first Tirtha, andthen Ricardo and Rida after, had
made sure that when I was doingthis on my own, I would maybe
record an episode once a month,maybe once or twice if I was
(41:50):
really feeling motivated, onceor twice if I was really feeling
motivated.
But since having you allinvolved with it, you've helped
me stay very diligent, veryregular, maintaining a regular
pace, and that is one of thethings.
If you have to, thatmentor-mentee relationship, you
have someone to hold youaccountable as well.
(42:10):
It's not just me spittingthings off into the internet
with no feedback from anybody.
I hear criticisms, which isgood.
I don't end up in the echochamber of my own head, so it is
important.
There are benefits, even though, as you said, you're not
quote-unquote neurologists, youare people who are interested,
who are engaged, who want tocreate useful things, and that,
(42:35):
I think, is just as important,and I do appreciate all of you.
So any final thoughts anyonewanted to share or any questions
I need to answer?
Dr. Rida Farhan (42:51):
I have a quote in mind Go ahead, I don't know.
I read it probably from one ofthe people you follow?
It went like you know itdoesn't the journey or the
destination doesn't matter, it'sthe people you end up
connecting with.
That matters along the way, andI think with our team, because
(43:14):
the journey is probably going tobe longer and we're not sure of
the destination, but it is ourdaily quirkiness or connections
that sort of keep us going andencouraging us to, just you know
, keep working on thisconsistently.
Dr. Tirtha Sawant (43:32):
Yeah, us to.
Just you know, keep working onthis consistently.
Dr. Michael Kentris (43:36):
Yeah, yes, that is one of the the most
interesting things you know to,to both what tirtha and what
you're saying.
Rida is, uh, that I've met somany interesting people through,
through networking online.
Uh, even even in my own careerand I've heard some people refer
to it, as you know, increasingthe surface area of your luck
(44:00):
where you, you know you're,you're putting yourself out
there, you're taking chances onthings and you know, not
everything's going to land ahundred percent, but some of
those will, will someone, andmaybe that person reaches out
and you build a new relationshipand that can be pretty awesome.
So I think that's a great thing.
(44:21):
That I've learned over the lastcouple of years is just the
importance of just taking a shotat something.
I consider myself a very strongintrovert as well, believe it
or not.
Dr. Rida Farhan (44:34):
We believe it.
I was painfully shy.
Dr. Michael Kentris (44:38):
I was painfully shy in high school and
that's part of what my problemin medical school made me.
I had to break that habit orelse I would never be worth a
darn as a physician, as aphysician, but it was still one
of those things that took a lotof work in terms of like I need
to do, at least at times, breakmy natural tendencies and, you
(45:00):
know, make those connections,and it has been very fruitful
both, you know, from a emotionalfriendships as well as from a
professional standpoint.
So I think I think those areall important points to keep in
mind as we engage in this kindof the new public square online.
Dr. Rida Farhan (45:20):
On the topic of being shy, not in med school,
but earlier during my highschool, my teachers complained.
The only complaint that theyever had was that we have never
heard her talk.
Dr. Tirtha Sawant (45:34):
We don't know .
You know, know.
That's really hard to believe.
I feel like you're a greatspeaker and orator.
That's, that's um, so.
Dr. Rida Farhan (45:44):
So they were like we don't, like we have not
heard, we don't know what hervoice sounds like, and and
they're like you know, she'sgreat at studies and everything
else.
We just she needs to talk.
And and then I I don't knowwhat I took their advice
seriously and I started, youknow, putting myself out there
and like that is back in highschool, and like a couple of
years later people wereliterally begging me to stop
(46:05):
talking, and so so they do nowas well.
But, um, now, the devil isunleashed.
Dr. Tirtha Sawant (46:12):
So we're still trying with them and we've
not been successful I.
Dr. Michael Kentris (46:19):
I had a very, very similar story when I
was in grade school.
About third grade I got sent tothe speech pathologist for an
evaluation because they thoughtI had a speech impediment of
something because I talked solittle in class.
Dr. Rida Farhan (46:34):
Yeah, so that's the point.
You know like, and now you're anarrator and a podcast host.
The point is that I've actuallyhad quite a lot of friends just
say to me that you know, itcomes easy to you, it comes
naturally to you.
We cannot do this, and my replyto all of these people is that I
was not born with this, trustme, I had to make a conscious
(46:56):
effort and even today, like Iwould love to just, you know,
isolate myself and not reply toanybody, like I hate posting on
social media daily.
I'm the social media director.
It is.
Everything is a consciouseffort that I you, you know keep
doing just for the sake ofgrowth and and you have to do it
(47:18):
, like all of us are coming fromshy and introverted places and
and you can reach, like greatplaces must be a neurology thing
that is, yeah, most neurologything, but that is also not like
a drawback.
I specifically think thatintroverts have some tendencies
that they can use quiteconstructively their ability to
(47:40):
form a great one-on-oneconnection, being a good
listener or paying attention todetails, and these sort of
things that actually help informing some strong bonds, even
if they're few.
Dr. Ricardo Vivanco (47:55):
It's curious because we all have this
in common, right, we all comefrom shy backgrounds, uh, we are
all introverts, uh, we allthink twice before posting
something on twitter.
But I always remember what uhcomedian said twitter is not a
real place.
So we should, we should just dowhatever we like and then get
(48:19):
some feedback and you know it's,it's fine, you know, don't,
don't be afraid of that.
So, yeah, and and it's, it wasvery interesting what dr country
said about um, you know, umhaving like a bigger impact by
uh doing, uh, having thispodcast and knowing a few people
(48:42):
, even if it, if it is only afew and not, you know, every
single follower on twitter.
Uh, I always remember this thatI learned from one of my
interviews this this much seasonis that the difference between
you know, focusing on yourprivate practice and doing some
academic work whether it isresearch or, you know, mentoring
(49:02):
or teaching it's that the, the,the impact you have on your
patients is exponential becauseyou, because you're not only
helping the patients you'retreating, but also the helpings
your mentis are treating.
So, yeah, and that's one of thereasons I'm also interested in
MedEd as much as you guys.
(49:25):
So, yeah, I'm really gratefulfor being here and learning from
you.
Dr. Michael Kentris (49:31):
Awesome.
Does everyone want to give alittle plug for where people can
find you, what you're workingon online other than
neurotransmitters?
Dr. Ricardo Vivanco (49:42):
Sure, yeah, so I'm on Twitter.
I'm, as Dr Vivan Cortex, whichis a funny name coming from my,
a combination of my last name,which is vivanco, and also
cortex, which is, you know,neuro stuff.
Dr. Rida Farhan (49:59):
Uh but yeah yeah, you can find me like that
awesome yeah, and you can findme on x at rida farhan
r-i-d-a-f-a-r-h-a-n.
Dr. Tirtha Sawant (50:13):
And if any future aspirants are listening,
neuro aspirants and want toreach out for guidance,
mentorship, anything, I'm morethan happy to help excellent,
yeah, um, and you can find me onx, as tirthasawant10, also on
LinkedIn, and likewise anyfuture aspirants applicants just
(50:36):
reach out, even if you justwant to talk.
I love to listen.
Call me a personal therapist, Idon't mind.
I would love to help in any waythat I can.
So just glad to be here and Ihope everyone that's listening
and does have some key takeawaysabout the mentor-mentee
relationship and hope you'vebeen able to help a lot of
(50:57):
applicants out there.
Dr. Michael Kentris (51:00):
Awesome.
I'm sure some people will findthese tips very helpful and
hopefully it will help somepeople down that pathway that
you all have kind of figured outon your own, down that pathway
that you all have kind offigured out on your own.
You can also follow me on xslash Twitter at Dr Kentris
D-R-K-E-N-T-R-I-S, and, ofcourse, follow the
(51:24):
neurotransmitters, where you cansee all of our posts from Rida
at neuro underscore podcast.
And then you can also find usat the neurotransmitters on
LinkedIn and, I believe,instagram as well these days.
Dr. Tirtha Sawant (51:33):
Yes.
Dr. Michael Kentris (51:34):
Excellent, and, of course, check out the
website theneurotransmitterscom.
Don't forget like, subscribe,share with a friend, spread the
word.
We're a small community, solet's make some relationships
out there, right?
Thank?
Dr. Tirtha Sawant (51:46):
you.
Dr. Michael Kentris (51:49):
All right, thanks everybody.
Appreciate everyone taking thetime and thank you for all your
thoughts today.
Dr. Tirtha Sawant (51:53):
Thank you.
Dr. Ricardo Vivanco (51:55):
It's been great, thank you.
Hello and welcome back to The
Neurotransmitters, your sourcefor all clinical
neurology-related learning.
So I'm your host, Dr MichaelKentris.
I'm very pleased today to havesome multiple very special
guests with me.
So, as some of you who followus on X may be aware, the
(00:21):
Neurotransmitters social mediaaccount's been picking up over
the last year and particularlast few months, and I'm joined
today by my team members Drs.
Tirtha Sawant, Rida Farhan andRicardo.
Dr. Ricardo Vivanco (00:35):
Oh, my God.
Dr. Michael Kentris (00:35):
Ricardo Vivanco.
Dr. Ricardo Vivanco (00:38):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you got it.
Dr. Michael Kentris (00:42):
So, oh so embarrassing.
The problem is your Twitterhandle is not your last name, so
it always throws me offwhenever I have to find you
online.
I'm so happy we might cut thatlater in post.
I'll leave it up to Rida'sdiscretion, but uh these are the
people who have been helping meto build the neurotransmitters
over the last year and and I amso grateful to all of them.
(01:04):
So when they came to me withthis idea of reflecting on what
has it meant to be aninternational medical graduate
applying to the US, match, thevalues of mentorship in various
capacities, I thought it was agreat idea and hopefully will
help a lot of our listeners outthere.
So thank you all for coming onin front of the microphone today
(01:27):
and kind of sharing yourexperiences.
Dr. Tirtha Sawant (01:29):
Thank you for having us.
Dr. Michael Kentris (01:30):
Perfect, happy to be here, so let's just
have you all go around.
Ricardo, will you start us off?
Give us a little bit of yourbackground, tell us how you
wound up here with us.
Dr. Ricardo Vivanco (01:40):
Sure, yeah.
So I am a medical graduate fromEcuador.
I actually graduated in 2022.
So I first met Dr Kentristhrough this Google form,
through X, formerly Twitter.
I didn't get used to the X name, but I signed up for being, you
(02:06):
know, graphic designerassistant for the podcast.
You know, medical education andinfographics is something that
I have always been interested in, and especially if it's
something related to neuro.
So it was nothing.
It was not a difficult decision,I would say, even though at
(02:29):
that time, I was writing mypersonal statement and I decided
to focus on the success.
But then I met this incredibleteam of people that has been
very supportive through thematch but also has taught me
several things, not only onneuro, but also about how to
handle these team meetings and,you know, organize what we
(02:52):
should publish on Twitter or thewebsite, and you know, it's
been great, great teamwork.
But then I think that we arehere today for because we should
talk about mentorship and I Iwant to start talking about,
maybe, my experience regardingthe match, but also through
(03:17):
medical school.
So I think I consider myself avery shy person, so maybe that's
why it was hard for me toapproach someone on X initially,
and I think maybe through allmy medical school I didn't have
(03:39):
a mentor, let's say, but a fixedmentor.
I had several professors whowould help me whenever I needed
to, but no one that would guideme to where I need, what I
wanted to be.
So I remember that I took mystep one during medical school,
(04:01):
which was a hard decision,because I did that all by
watching YouTube videos about,you know, the match process and
how to study for step one andwhat else.
And I remember that at first I,you know, I didn't even consider
doing my residency in theUnited States.
I just wanted to see how I wasdoing compared to medical
(04:26):
students from abroad.
You know, us has always been abig, a leading country in
science and you know, medicineis not an exception.
So I started starting for mystep one, for that started, um,
(04:49):
uh, starting for my step one, uh, for that.
And then I knew if I justdidn't have the score, uh, that
I wanted, or I felt that I justcould go to another path, so, uh
, but hopefully I I passed it.
And then I remember that afterthat, I reached to one of my
first mentors at that time.
After that, I reached to one ofmy first mentors at that time,
(05:11):
who became a great friend, who Ihaven't met in person yet, but
it's an Ecuadorian who you knowis doing.
It is right now it's aneurologist, a board certified
neurologist there in the UnitedStates, and I remember talking
with him and talking a littlebit anxious about my process and
how I was worried about gettingthese medical rotations in the
(05:32):
United States and if it wasworth it because of the cost and
the time, or should I do otherthings?
And this was after my step one.
So there were some options, butnot a lot of options as we know
, as IMGs there are.
So the thing I remember themost about that conversation
(06:06):
with him was the relief I feltabout him telling me that I was
doing pretty good actually,because he took the step one
after graduating from medicalschool.
And you know, and and it's, youknow, it's it's a very
different thing to watchingthrough, you know, youtube
videos and knowing in insidemyself that I'm going through
the right path.
But someone else telling me,someone else that has gone
(06:26):
through that path, it's a verydifferent thing and I think I
appreciated that kind of reliefat that time.
So I think that was my firstturning point and a kind of
cheer up for my journey throughthis match process.
So then I was, I kept incontact with him and I actually
(06:54):
met a lot of more people throughhim.
You know, he kind of put me incontact with some other
Ecuadorians there in the Stateseither doing research fellows on
neurology or doing residency inneurology there.
And then I met, I think, myother mentor.
(07:14):
That has, you know, has becomeone of the conversations with
him, has become one of theturning points of my match
process with him has become oneof the turning points of my
match process.
I remember that after doing acouple of rotations I wasn't
sure if I was ready for applyingto the match and I was
considering on doing a researchfellowship first, which will
(07:34):
take me another year and maybepostpone my application for
another year.
And actually he told me that inhis opinion I should apply as
early as possible.
I had graduated, maybe it wasone year after my graduation.
So that was a conversation,maybe a little more of a year
(08:00):
ago, maybe a little more, butthen that's the reason, maybe
he's the reason I am playingthis year and I'm very grateful
for that because you know, ifnot maybe I wouldn't get.
Things would have to get morecomplicated, maybe I wouldn't
get this research fellowshipposition and maybe I will have
spent much more money that Ihave spent till now.
(08:24):
So, having his counsel, hisadvice, was pretty, pretty, uh
valuable at the time and youknow, um, I think I owe them a
lot, um, to these two mentors.
And then during my match process, uh, I've met also other
wonderful people who has helpedme, either with interviews or,
(08:45):
you know, writing my personalstatement, um, or sponsor me on
twitter, like dr countrieshimself.
So, uh, I'm pretty careful forthat and I think the bottom line
of all of what I'm saying isthat, um, you should not be shy
in terms of applying for, youknow, seeking help and applying
(09:09):
to the match.
What I've learned is that mostof the IMGs and some of the, you
know, american residents noresidents, but neurologists or
physicians like Dr Kentris arewilling to help for several
reasons.
For several reasons, but mostlyIMGs because they have a
(09:35):
feeling of giving back what theyreceived when they were
applying.
So that could be my firstadvice seeking help whenever
possible.
And then the second one isaccepting every help as possible
, because there are differenttype of mentors and every help
and every advice, every point ofview from them is always
valuable and you could takewhatever you like or not.
(09:59):
Take whatever you dislike, soit's always your opinion, so
yeah.
Dr. Michael Kentris (10:05):
All great points, thank you.
Dr. Ricardo Vivanco (10:09):
I don't know, and maybe Rida or Tirtha
has different opinions abouttheir journeys on the match.
Dr. Rida Farhan (10:19):
So maybe you could share.
Yeah, sure, so I'm Rida and I'ma medical graduate from
Pakistan.
I graduated in 2021.
And so I mean, I'm just goingto give a little background from
where I'm coming from, whichbasically is why I needed
somebody as a mentor.
(10:50):
First generation doctor like Iam one of the first people in my
um, immediate and extendedfamilies to become a doctor.
Um, and, believe me, I have nottried to explain the match
process to them.
Uh, um, and that is because, uh, earlier, when I was leaving
for my US rotations, I tried, Isat down and explained to them
for hours and why and what I wasworking towards.
(11:13):
And then, one month later, whenI was in the US, and so one of
my relatives of the extendedfamily members, who is a medical
student and is frequently intouch with me, she messaged me
and she was like your family washere and they have no idea what
you're doing.
And I was like, yeah, okay,nevermind about that.
(11:35):
So, so, so, and I mean there isno doctor, and then also, I
don't have any relatives in theUS as such, and and especially
like, within my community, it isnot exactly conventional to be
pursuing training or even highereducation abroad.
And so I faced quite somebacklash, especially as a girl.
(11:59):
I mean, they are now comingaround to sort of accepting it,
but I did not really have like astrong support system there.
And then all of my friends whoare applying to the match all of
them are coming with likefamilies of doctors and they
have relatives in the US andnobody was applying to neurology
.
So it just became like a veryisolating journey for me.
(12:24):
Um so uh, and last March, if Icompare, uh a year ago, I was
like uh, just having a, I wasfollowing the last match, um,
and people were posting on X, uh, how they have all these
mentors and how they're gratefulfor all of them, and I was like
(12:44):
so envious of all of thesepeople and I was like where are
they finding mentors?
And uh, and I mean I would likekill to have somebody like a
trusted adult to turn to forcareer advice.
Like that was a luxury, uh,that I did not have.
And, and I was hoping so, bythat time I had managed to get
like a few rotations aftermonths and months of cold
(13:07):
emailing.
So I was hoping when I go formy rotations I'll be able to
form this connection with mymentors, like my preceptors and
hopefully that will you knowsustain me through the match
cycle.
So I went with that expectationto the US.
So one thing that I would say,one advice that I would give, is
(13:30):
find the right people peopleyou want to, people who are in
the same field as you, peoplewho are on the same track that
you want to pursue.
Because there are, I know, asIMGs and I hate using the term
desperate, but we are sort ofdesperate for rotations and
people will take up anythingthey'll find.
So I've, like my mentors, myneurology mentors have told me
(13:54):
stories about people who apply Imean who came to them for
rotations saying that theywanted to apply to neurology and
then never apply to neurology,ended up applying to internal
medicine, and I mean that wastheir plan all along.
They were just not honest aboutit.
So do not be that person.
If you are seeking, like adifferent rotation, then at
(14:14):
least be honest with yourmentors, because if they are
taking a chance on you, theydeserve to know what you are
really applying for.
And that also ruins chances forthe other IMGs as well, because
one of my mentors actually saidthat you know she had stopped
taking observers.
For this reason, I had to bepersistent and prove my research
(14:37):
skills and eventually make myway through that.
But point being, don't do that.
You're just ruining things foryourself and for other people.
So that's one thing.
So, anyway, I went to the US inthe hopes of, you know, making
(14:57):
these great connections.
And then you know, witheverybody on X and Reddit, and
people were like, if you know,you're at your A game, in the
rotations you will end up withthis excellent letter of
recommendation and all of myrotations were like a month long
.
So three rotations for threemonths.
And so so I I came in with thisexpectation and I tried to, you
(15:20):
know, be at my A game, as Icould be, and but but in the, at
the end of the month, I did nothave that, that great
connection that I was hoping tohit Like it was.
It did not hit the sweet spotthat I was hoping.
It was a great and it was agood relation, but it wasn't
(15:42):
great.
So like it went from zero togood, it did not go from zero to
great and I ended up beingquite disappointed.
So when I was, like returning toPakistan, I was actually pretty
disheartened that I had done mybest and I still hadn't managed
to get that, you know, greatconnection that I was hoping for
(16:03):
, and even in the next.
So I started, um, some projectswith these mentors as well.
So I was in touch with themeven after I came to Pakistan
and I was working with them andby, I think I came back like at
the end of August, and byNovember I was still feeling
pretty um, gloomy about it.
That, uh, I had, you know I had, I was exhausted, trying to
(16:28):
prove myself to every new personand it's not going anywhere and
I'm not feeling it.
But then I think you know thecompounding effect happens over
time and in December some thingshappened that sort of made me
realize that all of thoseconnections had now gone from
good to great over time.
(16:50):
And that is like one thing inhindsight that I would say is do
not give it time.
Like any other relationship, amentor-mentor relationship is
going to take time.
You're not going to go fromzero to great immediately.
It will take a few months tobuild that trust and rapport.
And hang in there.
(17:11):
Uh, if you, if you feelexhausted, uh, hang in there and
eventually it will, it willwork out.
So, and coming to specificallyto Dr.
Kentris.
Uh, if you will let me, Ofcourse.
So I was in July.
(17:33):
He posted the volunteerannouncement and the call for
volunteers in mid-August.
Around that time and aroundlike one month earlier in
(17:54):
mid-July, I was rotating atVanderbilt in the epilepsy
monitoring unit and I wasscrolling and, unlike Ricardo, I
was not aware of Dr Kentris'ssuperstar status.
Dr. Michael Kentris (18:03):
That's an exaggeration at best.
I was not aware at all.
Dr. Rida Farhan (18:06):
I was following him, but I was not aware at all
.
I was following him, but I wasnot really familiar with
anything about him.
In my defense, he doesn't haveepileptologists in his bio.
Dr. Michael Kentris (18:21):
So that explains I used to, but I had to
cut back on the characters.
Dr. Rida Farhan (18:24):
Okay, Continuum Having continuum in your bio
should be enough.
No, for me it's the, for me,it's the epilepsy buzzword.
So so I was scrolling X, asusual, and I came across this
(18:44):
audiogram that you had postedwith your interview from Dr
Nupur Goel, and.
And for those who don't knowwhat audiogram that you had
posted with your interview fromDr Nupur Goel, and for those who
don't know what audiograms are,they are the snippets of audio
that we post on our X orwhatever social media you follow
us on, and if you don't, thenplease follow.
Dr. Ricardo Vivanco (19:04):
They're the backbone of the
Neurotransmitters account.
Dr. Rida Farhan (19:08):
Yeah, yeah, they're the backbone of the
neurotransmitters account.
Yeah, yeah so.
So I came across this audiogram, which I did not know was an
audiogram at that time, but, um,it was a snippet from, uh, the
interview with dr napoor goeland she was talking about how
her mentor, Dr Buletko, hadgiven her the advice on how to
um, change, to transform herchallenges into opportunities,
(19:32):
something along those lines.
I don't remember exactly, butthat is sort of something that I
resonate with a lot personallyand try to do.
And so that you know, I gotintrigued and I went to the
Neurotransmitters and that wasthe first podcast I listened to
and in that podcast Dr Kentrismentions that he did his
(19:55):
epilepsy fellowship atVanderbilt and I may or may not
have dropped the phone at thatpoint, just kidding, I didn't
but I did follow the channel andI was very intrigued and I did
stalk probably you or theneurotransmitters at that point,
(20:16):
and this is one month beforeyou had that call out from
volunteers.
So I I made a, I mean it.
It seemed interesting.
So I made a mental note thatI'm going to check this out once
.
Uh, I was in the middle of myrotations and traveling and all
of that at that time, so I waslike, once I'm done with this,
uh, I'm going to, you know,listen to a few more podcasts
(20:37):
and see what your deal is, andonce I, once I have some sense
of what you're trying to do orcreate, uh, I will send you a
well-informed email suggestingways on how I can be useful to
you.
So that was something on myto-do list even before you
(20:58):
posted your call for volunteers.
And then also, that's one thingthat happened at Vanderbilt.
And the other thing thathappened was I was talking to
this other um mentor and she andI was like we were talking
about, uh, neuro humanities andwe're talking about, like, the
love for creative writing, andand I was telling her, you know,
(21:20):
I'm trying to figure out wayson how to merge my non-medical
interests with medicine,specifically neuro, so graphic
designing and animation andwriting.
And she was like, whatever youdo, just start, like, get
involved somehow and startpublishing or doing something
about it, because once you do,then more opportunities will
(21:42):
open up.
And I wasn't sure because Imean, I'm not, I'm not, I don't
have any experience being aneurologist, I'm not even a
trainee yet, and I preferablywanted to do something in neuros
.
I wasn't sure how solo I can dosomething, you know.
So I was also kind ofreflecting over her advice and
(22:03):
thinking of ways I could dosomething.
And then I came across yourchannel and I was like, okay,
this is something I could give ashot.
But before I could give a shotyou posted the call for
volunteers and I was like oh, myGod.
And then I opened yeah, I openedthe Google Doc and I was like,
(22:28):
oh my God, that was the second.
Oh my God.
And I mean that was exactly.
I was like, oh, you're lookingfor me, you just don't know it
yet.
I'm kidding, I did not thinkthat, I'm just saying this, but
I did think that I am theperfect person for it and I mean
(22:50):
, the rest is history.
So I applied, but I havelearned a lot from him and he
could be the one mentor that Ican say not forced the one
mentor who has had a significantinfluence on my journey and my
growth, um, especially over thelast few months, and I I mean I
(23:18):
do.
I will take up extra things todo in the neurotransmitters as
an excuse to stay connected tohim, because I enjoy picking up
his brain.
Dr. Michael Kentris (23:26):
I'm very fortunate to have had your help
over the last year, Rida Thankyou.
Dr. Rida Farhan (23:32):
Thank you to you.
So yeah, so I am very gratefulto you and hopefully we will
continue beyond the match.
Dr. Michael Kentris (23:46):
Fingers crossed.
Dr. Rida Farhan (23:48):
What do you mean?
Fingers crossed?
Dr. Michael Kentris (23:50):
it's a.
Dr. Rida Farhan (23:50):
It's a good luck thing no, no, no, no, as in
you, you should be sure that weare going to continue beyond
the match well, yes, I mean, I'm, I'm confident of that part.
Dr. Michael Kentris (24:03):
I want, I want you all to have for those.
You know, we're recording thison march 1st, so we are, you
know, just a couple of weekspre-match at this point in time.
So by the time this comes out,we may, maybe we'll have an
addendum to record onto the endthere with some good news for
everybody.
But we are not yet through thematch.
(24:24):
So I'm hoping for good thingsfor everyone on the call.
Dr. Rida Farhan (24:31):
Okay, perfect, thank you.
Through the match.
So I'm hoping for good thingsfor everyone on the call.
Okay, perfect, thank you.
Um, so, yeah, so just last twosort of key um.
If you, if you like, asksomebody on how to take make the
(24:53):
most out of your rotations ormake the most out of your um
mentorships, people will tellyou to be on your a game, right,
so show up on time, be, etcetera.
And that is sort of consideredthe upper limit to being like be
the best you can.
It's like the upper limit.
But in my humble opinion, Ithink that should be the bare
(25:18):
minimum to do, because ifsomebody is taking a chance on
you, then honoring thatcommitment with 100% should at
least be the bare minimum.
And if you want to go above andbeyond, then reciprocate.
I'm sure all of the attendingshave too many things on their
to-do list and they wouldn'tmind if somebody takes some
(25:39):
things off their hands.
Do that.
Be that person.
Be the Jonathan that everyattending needs.
Um, be.
Be the jonathan that everyattending needs.
Yeah, so, so that, um, and andmake yourself useful.
So I mean, obviously nobody'sgoing to hand over things to you
.
So, like, if, if your mentor islike research focused and learn
(26:02):
some research skills if theyare like.
One of my um mentor is research, so I'm working with her on
researches, with Dr Kentris I'mworking on whatever social media
and podcast editing stuff, andwith another of my mentors.
She is like she has a privatepractice, so she has an
Instagram page and a website andyou know for, obviously,
(26:25):
promotion stuff and I ended upwriting blogs for her and you
know for obviously, promotionstuff and I ended up writing
blogs for her and you know,making infographics and stuff.
So I mean, that wasn't arequirement on my part as a
rotation, but that was like away of giving back to the mentor
and making things easier forthem or doing something that
would you know lead to theirsuccess.
Like it is a relation, like anyother relation, it's a give and
(26:46):
take relationship.
So if they're invested in yoursuccess, you invest in their
success.
It should go both ways.
That is something I staunchlybelieve in.
One and two virtual networking.
I have read a lot.
I had some friends ask me ifyou know being on Twitter landed
(27:07):
me interviews.
I had some friends ask me ifyou know being on Twitter landed
me interviews.
I've read posts on Redditsaying, oh, we're so glad we
never made these Twitteraccounts and get involved in all
the drama that is happening.
And again, I know we've had alot of drama this cycle.
But how you use your socialmedia is up to you.
If you want to be involved inthe drama, then fine.
(27:30):
But if you want to use itconstructively, you can.
Like that shouldn't be a pridefactor that you don't have an
account or you never went on x,uh.
There are many ways to use itconstructively and with so many
people who are coming in the meded space and especially, like,
as IMGs, you don't need, like,visa, you don't need financial
(27:52):
barriers, like all of thesebarriers are not there when it
comes to virtual networking.
So there is literally no reasonfor you to not be on social
media and connect with people.
And even if it doesn't land youinterviews, you will still have
a lot of update on what thecurrent you know things are
(28:12):
happening and let's in yourTwitter and that actually helped
me a lot in my interviews.
You know, just maintainingconversations with interviewers.
I mean, I don't know we'll seewhat happens on 15 March but
(28:51):
hopefully that we are veryintroverted and we don't know
how to network or we don't knowhow to connect.
That is fine.
I am a staunch introvert likeyou.
Don't have to just be allflashy or just go out and I mean
this is virtual networking justmake and literally you don't
even have to post anything Justfollow the right people and your
(29:13):
target audience.
If I use my social mediadirector terms, your target
audience shouldn't be fellowmatch applicants.
I mean sure you can connect withthem, but your target audience
should be people you aspire tobe.
I mean sure you can connect withthem, but your target audience
should be people you aspire tobe.
So, whoever is on the track thatyou want to pursue and you will
find many people and followthem and see what they're
(29:36):
posting there will be people inthe meta space who are posting
regularly and all of us knowthat posting on social media
consistently is not exactly apiece of cake.
And if you can learn some skillsthere are so many people who
are running podcast channels orYouTube channels and if you can
learn some skills like videoediting and podcast editing or
(30:02):
graphic designing, animationstuff like that infographics you
will actually be very useful toa lot of people out there and
you can, you know, just observethese people, how they're
posting, what they're posting,and, after you know, a couple of
months of observation andlearning some skills, reach out
to them with a thoughtfulmessage that this is how you can
(30:23):
be useful, like I hopefullywould have reached out to Dr
Kentris if he hadn't alreadyposted.
So do that and I think like ifyou start quite a few months
before the match, you, by thetime you are applying, you will
have like a great connection and, and you know, one connection
will lead to a few others andit's just just keeps compounding
(30:46):
then from there.
So yeah, those are some of mykey takeaways and my journey
(31:16):
attendings.
Dr. Michael Kentris (31:16):
I didn't, and it made life a lot harder
for me trying to, because I alsowas like a first generation
physician and so I didn't haveanyone in the family to really
ask advice from, didn't reallyhave any strong mentors in
medical school.
So I kind of I did it exactlythe wrong way in terms of using
all of these resources, thesesoft skills, if you will.
So I definitely recommendeverything you suggested as
(31:39):
being a better path than my own.
Thank you.
Last but not least, Tirtha,tell us a little bit about your
background there.
Dr. Tirtha Sawant (31:47):
Sure, hey, everyone listening in today and
thank you, ricardo and Rida, foryour wonderful journeys.
Even I didn't know that muchabout you guys, so it was great
listening to everything.
So, yeah, my name is TirthaSawant.
I also graduated in 2022 from aCaribbean medical school and I
met Dr Kentris last year aroundthis time.
(32:09):
To be very honest, I do noteven remember how and why I
reached out to him.
I think it was probably justfate.
I DM'd him on X or Twitter andit was mainly for just life
advice.
I was really at my lowest andhe was just there supporting me
and telling me to go on.
(32:30):
I believe it's very similar toyou know things that he had
experienced as a medical studentand I connected with him a lot
on those aspects.
And, moving on from there, wejust I just talked to him for
advice and you know strength,and then from there, I found out
that he narrates for Continuumand I asked him hey, you know,
(32:53):
this sounds really interesting.
And I was super scared because,being an IMG, of course we do
come with, you know, ourrespective unique accents.
And I remember asking him willI be able to do this?
One?
I'm not really techno savvy andtwo, like I'm going to have to
practice how to pronounce everyword you know in the American
(33:15):
accent.
And he said you know what,don't worry about that, we have
a great team and we'll you know,we are very welcoming.
So just give it a shot and tryto see.
And how it goes.
I remember recording my firstarticle for Continuum and around
three-fourths down the line Ihad to scrap it due to some
(33:35):
technical errors and I was so,so scared.
I remember texting him on myphone.
I'm like, hey, I don't think Ican do this.
The deadline is in like threedays.
I'm going to have to scrap thisaudio.
And he was like, listen, let mehelp you out, go to this, do
these controls, let me help youout.
You know, go to this, do thesecontrols, click on that.
He had me figure it out and Ire-recorded the entire article
(33:57):
again and it was when I didsubmit it and, ms Schroeder,
I've continued.
She got back to me.
She said I don't have any editsfor you.
You know, it's perfect, it'sgood to go.
And that was just amazing.
I feel like if, if not for hissupport and his push, I probably
(34:17):
would have given up with thatone audio that seemed to destroy
my life at that point.
And then, you know, moving on,he he did mention about
neurotransmitters Vaguely.
It wasn't really a publishedwebsite at the time and it was,
you know, like his abstractideas.
We all know dr Kentris.
He can talk for hours and hoursdescribing what he's working on
(34:39):
.
Um, so, yeah, I remember uhjust telling him once, hey, if
you ever need help, just let meknow.
And he said, yeah, I'll holdyou on to that.
And then I guess it was was inJune or July when he did reach
out and I was like I would loveto help you, like I may not know
what needs to be done to youknow, launch the website and get
(35:02):
volunteers and everything, butI just want to be a part of
giving back to you.
For me it's like I love workingwith people.
I think gratitude in thisindustry, in medicine and
healthcare, is extremelyimportant and I just wanted to
be a part of his journey, of,you know, his journey to success
and stardom, as you called it.
(35:24):
So yeah, it was.
It was fun working with himInitially.
You know sort of brainstormingideas how to get more volunteers
and, uh, every aspect ofneurotransmitters, podcasts and
quizzes.
And you know how the socialmedia is going to work around.
Um, yeah, and it was wonderful.
I got to learn a lot from him.
(35:45):
I got to learn a lot from youguys.
I think I, I it's.
It's very important in thementor mentee relationship,
where you it's a two way streetright you get to learn a lot and
also your mentor does.
I guess I hope they also get tolearn a lot from us.
So I got to learn how to makeinfographics and how to edit
(36:06):
audios and how to make posts andyou know all of that.
And had it not been for him andhis platform, I wouldn't have
ever learned these skills.
So it's a huge thank you to DrKentris.
And moving on to generally inthe world of mentorship and
social networking, yes, as IMGsand I think having that
(36:28):
advantage of being Gen Zs, wehave taken advantage of, you
know, the social networkingworld and having everything at
the tip of our fingers with youknow, virtual networking and
even though last year I didn'thave a lot of followers and I
was like a nobody, just watchingpeople posts and, you know,
(36:51):
just figuring out how are theydoing this, how are they?
You know, don't, don't theyhave any social anxiety, um, but
I sort of overcame that and Isaw the the the bigger picture
of social media and how, likeyou mentioned, how you can use
it constructively, and due tothat, I reached out to a lot of
uh people, but not in a way thatto bother them I don't think I
(37:15):
went down the route of coldemailing.
I put in a lot of research interms of which physician
attending is doing somethingthat I feel value in, because I
really wanted to reach out tothem and see if I can contribute
to you know their platform,whether it was my volunteer
organization, whether it was myresearch mentor, uh, each one of
(37:38):
them is someone that I wouldsay I I had picked, and I feel
like that sort of came in myemail when I did reach out to
them that I really want to workwith you.
Uh, this is something thatresonates with me and that's one
advice I would give toapplicants this year or in the
following years that you knowthey do say a lot that you have
to email a bunch of people.
(38:00):
It may work for some, it maynot work for some, but if you
really do know your specialtyand your niche and where you
could contribute best.
I would highly suggest to reachout to those people and see if
they're willing to help you.
And there are a lot of peopleout there who, you know, do this
without any other benefits orexpectations, like Dr Kentris
(38:23):
himself.
And yeah, if you reach out tothe right people and if you have
something to give to them, youcan definitely, you know, find
it worthwhile working for themas well.
And there was another thinglike even in terms of the match,
I'm sure NMatch, the platformthat sort of paired us with, you
know, our mentors.
(38:43):
I hope he's also listening into this podcast because I would
love to give him a shout out.
I won't mention his name here,but he's been very instrumental
as well.
Would love to give him a shoutout.
I won't mention his name here,but he's been very instrumental
as well in terms of just advice,career advice about programs,
about my application andeverything related to the match.
So we just being very gratefulto have these mentors in every
(39:09):
field and sort of learning fromthem.
And this person being, you know, a PGY1 resident, it really
shows that a mentor doesn'treally always have to be an
attending as well, it could justbe a friend, it could just be
someone who's already matchedand willing to help you, and
there are so many out there whoare willing to help you in these
(39:30):
aspects.
And yeah, moving on from there,I feel like you guys have
covered a lot of topics and I'mlike getting blank now.
Yeah, just final advice for youknow, this relationship of
mentors and mentees is beconsistent.
(39:50):
As mentees, we have to be theone to sort of plan things right
.
We, you know, it's obvious weneed the help more and they are
the ones you know just beinggrateful and sort of giving us
the right direction.
So it's important for us, asmentees, to be consistent,
respond to their emails andreally structure your schedule
(40:11):
according to you know theirlifestyle, because these are
attendings or residents orphysicians who may be extremely
busy, and every second that theysort of devote to your journey
is extremely important and it'simportant to show that gratitude
as well.
So, you know, present day it'sbeen over a year I've been
(40:31):
working for neurotransmittersand I love the people that I
work with.
Being the director of personnel, I think it suits my
personality.
Like I said, I love workingwith people, I love learning
from people.
I do think all of us have ourstrengths that we contribute to
as a team, and Dr Kentris beingthe guru, the king of the jungle
(40:54):
, he's definitely sort ofbrought out the best from each
one of us.
So, yeah, just very happy to behere and making this for him.
Dr. Michael Kentris (41:05):
No, it's been great having all of you
involved with this.
As you all know, I do tear atthis point.
I can ramble on about ideasforever and then, uh, my
execution needs a little bit of,uh, just encouragement from
time to time, which I appreciate, uh, despite my sometimes
(41:26):
cranky demeanor.
So so, thank you all forkeeping me on the straight and
narrow and making sure you knowthat that is one of the great
things that first Tirtha, andthen Ricardo and Rida after, had
made sure that when I was doingthis on my own, I would maybe
record an episode once a month,maybe once or twice if I was
(41:50):
really feeling motivated, onceor twice if I was really feeling
motivated.
But since having you allinvolved with it, you've helped
me stay very diligent, veryregular, maintaining a regular
pace, and that is one of thethings.
If you have to, thatmentor-mentee relationship, you
have someone to hold youaccountable as well.
(42:10):
It's not just me spittingthings off into the internet
with no feedback from anybody.
I hear criticisms, which isgood.
I don't end up in the echochamber of my own head, so it is
important.
There are benefits, even though, as you said, you're not
quote-unquote neurologists, youare people who are interested,
who are engaged, who want tocreate useful things, and that,
(42:35):
I think, is just as important,and I do appreciate all of you.
So any final thoughts anyonewanted to share or any questions
I need to answer?
Dr. Rida Farhan (42:51):
I have a quote in mind Go ahead, I don't know.
I read it probably from one ofthe people you follow?
It went like you know itdoesn't the journey or the
destination doesn't matter, it'sthe people you end up
connecting with.
That matters along the way, andI think with our team, because
(43:14):
the journey is probably going tobe longer and we're not sure of
the destination, but it is ourdaily quirkiness or connections
that sort of keep us going andencouraging us to, just you know
, keep working on thisconsistently.
Dr. Tirtha Sawant (43:32):
Yeah, us to.
Just you know, keep working onthis consistently.
Dr. Michael Kentris (43:36):
Yeah, yes, that is one of the the most
interesting things you know to,to both what tirtha and what
you're saying.
Rida is, uh, that I've met somany interesting people through,
through networking online.
Uh, even even in my own careerand I've heard some people refer
to it, as you know, increasingthe surface area of your luck
(44:00):
where you, you know you're,you're putting yourself out
there, you're taking chances onthings and you know, not
everything's going to land ahundred percent, but some of
those will, will someone, andmaybe that person reaches out
and you build a new relationshipand that can be pretty awesome.
So I think that's a great thing.
(44:21):
That I've learned over the lastcouple of years is just the
importance of just taking a shotat something.
I consider myself a very strongintrovert as well, believe it
or not.
Dr. Rida Farhan (44:34):
We believe it.
I was painfully shy.
Dr. Michael Kentris (44:38):
I was painfully shy in high school and
that's part of what my problemin medical school made me.
I had to break that habit orelse I would never be worth a
darn as a physician, as aphysician, but it was still one
of those things that took a lotof work in terms of like I need
to do, at least at times, breakmy natural tendencies and, you
(45:00):
know, make those connections,and it has been very fruitful
both, you know, from a emotionalfriendships as well as from a
professional standpoint.
So I think I think those areall important points to keep in
mind as we engage in this kindof the new public square online.
Dr. Rida Farhan (45:20):
On the topic of being shy, not in med school,
but earlier during my highschool, my teachers complained.
The only complaint that theyever had was that we have never
heard her talk.
Dr. Tirtha Sawant (45:34):
We don't know .
You know, know.
That's really hard to believe.
I feel like you're a greatspeaker and orator.
That's, that's um, so.
Dr. Rida Farhan (45:44):
So they were like we don't, like we have not
heard, we don't know what hervoice sounds like, and and
they're like you know, she'sgreat at studies and everything
else.
We just she needs to talk.
And and then I I don't knowwhat I took their advice
seriously and I started, youknow, putting myself out there
and like that is back in highschool, and like a couple of
years later people wereliterally begging me to stop
(46:05):
talking, and so so they do nowas well.
But, um, now, the devil isunleashed.
Dr. Tirtha Sawant (46:12):
So we're still trying with them and we've
not been successful I.
Dr. Michael Kentris (46:19):
I had a very, very similar story when I
was in grade school.
About third grade I got sent tothe speech pathologist for an
evaluation because they thoughtI had a speech impediment of
something because I talked solittle in class.
Dr. Rida Farhan (46:34):
Yeah, so that's the point.
You know like, and now you're anarrator and a podcast host.
The point is that I've actuallyhad quite a lot of friends just
say to me that you know, itcomes easy to you, it comes
naturally to you.
We cannot do this, and my replyto all of these people is that I
was not born with this, trustme, I had to make a conscious
(46:56):
effort and even today, like Iwould love to just, you know,
isolate myself and not reply toanybody, like I hate posting on
social media daily.
I'm the social media director.
It is.
Everything is a consciouseffort that I you, you know keep
doing just for the sake ofgrowth and and you have to do it
(47:18):
, like all of us are coming fromshy and introverted places and
and you can reach, like greatplaces must be a neurology thing
that is, yeah, most neurologything, but that is also not like
a drawback.
I specifically think thatintroverts have some tendencies
that they can use quiteconstructively their ability to
(47:40):
form a great one-on-oneconnection, being a good
listener or paying attention todetails, and these sort of
things that actually help informing some strong bonds, even
if they're few.
Dr. Ricardo Vivanco (47:55):
It's curious because we all have this
in common, right, we all comefrom shy backgrounds, uh, we are
all introverts, uh, we allthink twice before posting
something on twitter.
But I always remember what uhcomedian said twitter is not a
real place.
So we should, we should just dowhatever we like and then get
(48:19):
some feedback and you know it's,it's fine, you know, don't,
don't be afraid of that.
So, yeah, and and it's, it wasvery interesting what dr country
said about um, you know, umhaving like a bigger impact by
uh doing, uh, having thispodcast and knowing a few people
(48:42):
, even if it, if it is only afew and not, you know, every
single follower on twitter.
Uh, I always remember this thatI learned from one of my
interviews this this much seasonis that the difference between
you know, focusing on yourprivate practice and doing some
academic work whether it isresearch or, you know, mentoring
(49:02):
or teaching it's that the, the,the impact you have on your
patients is exponential becauseyou, because you're not only
helping the patients you'retreating, but also the helpings
your mentis are treating.
So, yeah, and that's one of thereasons I'm also interested in
MedEd as much as you guys.
(49:25):
So, yeah, I'm really gratefulfor being here and learning from
you.
Dr. Michael Kentris (49:31):
Awesome.
Does everyone want to give alittle plug for where people can
find you, what you're workingon online other than
neurotransmitters?
Dr. Ricardo Vivanco (49:42):
Sure, yeah, so I'm on Twitter.
I'm, as Dr Vivan Cortex, whichis a funny name coming from my,
a combination of my last name,which is vivanco, and also
cortex, which is, you know,neuro stuff.
Dr. Rida Farhan (49:59):
Uh but yeah yeah, you can find me like that
awesome yeah, and you can findme on x at rida farhan
r-i-d-a-f-a-r-h-a-n.
Dr. Tirtha Sawant (50:13):
And if any future aspirants are listening,
neuro aspirants and want toreach out for guidance,
mentorship, anything, I'm morethan happy to help excellent,
yeah, um, and you can find me onx, as tirthasawant10, also on
LinkedIn, and likewise anyfuture aspirants applicants just
(50:36):
reach out, even if you justwant to talk.
I love to listen.
Call me a personal therapist, Idon't mind.
I would love to help in any waythat I can.
So just glad to be here and Ihope everyone that's listening
and does have some key takeawaysabout the mentor-mentee
relationship and hope you'vebeen able to help a lot of
(50:57):
applicants out there.
Dr. Michael Kentris (51:00):
Awesome.
I'm sure some people will findthese tips very helpful and
hopefully it will help somepeople down that pathway that
you all have kind of figured outon your own, down that pathway
that you all have kind offigured out on your own.
You can also follow me on xslash Twitter at Dr Kentris
D-R-K-E-N-T-R-I-S, and, ofcourse, follow the
(51:24):
neurotransmitters, where you cansee all of our posts from Rida
at neuro underscore podcast.
And then you can also find usat the neurotransmitters on
LinkedIn and, I believe,instagram as well these days.
Dr. Tirtha Sawant (51:33):
Yes.
Dr. Michael Kentris (51:34):
Excellent, and, of course, check out the
website theneurotransmitterscom.
Don't forget like, subscribe,share with a friend, spread the
word.
We're a small community, solet's make some relationships
out there, right?
Thank?
Dr. Tirtha Sawant (51:46):
you.
Dr. Michael Kentris (51:49):
All right, thanks everybody.
Appreciate everyone taking thetime and thank you for all your
thoughts today.
Dr. Tirtha Sawant (51:53):
Thank you.
Dr. Ricardo Vivanco (51:55):
It's been great, thank you.
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