Keeping At It with Dr. Jessica Merlin

Jessica Merlin, MD, PhD, MBA is an Associate Professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. She is board certified in internal medicine, infectious disease, palliative care, and addiction medicine. Dr. Merlin is a  PhD-trained behavioral scientist and an NIH-funded clinician-investigator. Her research includes foundational work on the pathophysiology, clinical epidemiology, and behavioral management of chronic pain in people with HIV. This work has extended to management approaches to pain and opioid misuse/use disorder in individuals with serious illness in palliative care settings. Dr. Merlin has been recognized nationally for her work with three Young Investigator awards from relevant societies, an Inspirational Leader Under 40 Award from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, and a Cambia Foundation Sojourns Scholar Leadership Award. She is an active scientific mentor to trainees at the doctoral, post-doctoral, and junior faculty level, as is the Director of Mentoring for Pitt's Institute for Clinical Research Education as well as the Associate Program Director for Research for Pitt's Internal Medicine residency and director of the General Internal Medicine research fellowship. We all want to—and should—achieve our highest goals. But, we also want to—and should—have a good time on the journey. Today, Dr. Jessica Merlin explains how we can make difficult decisions—and assess the outcomes—in order to feel most fulfilled in our careers. There are many paths to success, so we may feel bogged down by choices, or what we fear to be “wasted time”. Dr. Merlin reassures us that pursuing opportunities in and of itself is a great way to find out what you do and don’t like, and that there really are no permanent decisions in our careers in medicine. As long as we remain persistent, we will eventually get to where we want to go. After all, part of the fun of being a doctor is figuring out what that means for you, says Dr. Merlin. Pearls of Wisdom: 1. Find mentors who you want to emulate, and let their decisions influence your decisions as you progress on your career path. 2. Keep at it. The one thing that will get a project or a goal over the finish line is persistence. Persistence has value. 3. Don’t put good money after bad money. Don’t stick with something if you’re miserable. you’re allowed to take risks, reassess, and course correct. You want to reach your goals—but you want to have a good time getting there.