How Structured Support Helped a Doctor Publish (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Alexandra, good to see you again. I think a lot of people are gonna be inspired by your story and experience. Run us from the beginning. Where were you before we started working together?

[00:00:10] Speaker 2: Hi, David. It's nice to see you too. Well, when I first decided to attend the Fast Track grad, I was actually in my first year of my PhD. Right now, I'm in my second. I knew that I had a clearly defined target. I aim to publish in a Q1, Q2 journal. So in the first two quartiles and I needed a guidance to have a, in order to write a paper that was methodologically aligned with the requirements of such journals. And of course, I am an MD. Our journals have really high standards. Not that I did not, I was not trained in faculty, but when you are in writing your PhD, it's a totally different level. And you also have to manage a PhD advisors who are really busy. And you lack that one-on-one feedback or the recurrent feedback that would keep you accountable. And also, I would say confident in yourself, because there are many moments when you need support and you don't have it. And I actually searched the whole YouTube for free material. And this is how I actually discovered your YouTube videos. And I must admit that I didn't know at first if I should go further and adhere to the Fast Track. But then I had the call with you and I saw how interested you are in matching the students that are a good fit for your program. And of course, I have seen your publications and they are speaking for themselves. And yeah, this is how I actually joined.

[00:02:27] Speaker 1: I remember that first conversation that we had. I even remember where I was sitting. I was outside a train station in Cambridge at the time. Tell me a little bit about what it was like working together. Did you have any aha moments? It is a journey to get to publication. What was that like?

[00:02:51] Speaker 2: Well, the aha moment came very quick for me. Because when I first entered Fast Track, I had a different theme. I write on cosmetic surgery, but I was writing on something else back at the time. And your first course, which pushes the student to frame the literature gap very critically, was an aha moment for me. I mean, the way you have framed all the steps that you have to take in order to clearly define and argument and defend your literature gap was changed. I mean, actually, partially changed the theme of my thesis. And of course, the structure of the course is very easy to follow. You have a week-by-week target, which also keeps you accountant. The weekly feedback that you have, which also keeps you accountant of your own progress. These are the real strengths of your course. And this is why, actually, I'm back for the second paper.

[00:04:15] Speaker 1: That's true. I remember we had a point, there was a fork in the road. And we realized, you know, you've really got two papers here, rather than one. And yeah, it's nice. So tell us a little bit, that gets us right up to the present. Where are you now? You got the first paper out. What was that like? Where are you now? And yeah, what are you looking at next?

[00:04:40] Speaker 2: I am contended to say that I was published in Open Forum of Aesthetic Surgery Journal, which is a reference journal of the American Plastic Surgeon Society, which counts a lot for me as a first paper. And right now we are preparing to submit my second paper for the European Journal of the European Plastic Surgeon Society. And this is where I'm at right now. I'm very optimistic about the future. And definitely, I wouldn't have been here and having this confidence if there wouldn't have been a support system that you built. So thank you in name of us all who made to actually ended up having these articles.

[00:05:34] Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it almost gives me goosebumps, Alexander, because I just remember that I'm thinking back to the first call and you were uncertain whether you could really do this. And because you had been been struggling for some time when we started chatting. And exactly, it was just we got the topic to snap into place. And then the step by step workflow, I remember just kind of made it smooth and easy for you. And as a physician doing a PhD, you're pretty busy. So you were really able to lock in those workflows. Yeah, I'm really proud of you and excited to see where next. I know it's great that we can keep working together in this way. What would you say, Alexander, to other doctors or researchers out there who are thinking about getting additional research training and support in their publishing path? Could be with us, could be with someone else. But what would you say to them?

[00:06:34] Speaker 2: In short, it's mandatory. If you want to reach your target journals, it's mandatory. Because as MDs, our main focus, it's about all medical specialties and subspecialties that we study. Some of us don't even consider in faculty that maybe you are going to switch to or maybe you would like a career in academia. And then all of a sudden, you lack all the support that you would have had in the faculty, which also varies by place. And yes, it is a must. Yes. And it has also been a very good insight that in your working group, you don't have only one type of, say, you have MDs, you have lawyers, you have engineers. So it's nice to see how other people from other areas build up their work. It's a nice addition because you have feedback from them. Sometimes you do papers that are interdisciplinary and actually it helps a lot. And also one thing that I was very contented when I joined back is that you stay on top of your game because right now you teach us how to use AI responsibly, which is, again, a very nice skill to have today.

[00:08:20] Speaker 1: That's true. As you rejoin the second time, I'm constantly updating our materials. And so our AI course a year ago is unrecognizable to what it is today. And as you know, I don't just review AI tools, I make them for you so that they lofty and ethical workflows. Yeah, that's a really good point. And I love what you said. I mean, I think observational learning in general is very important, especially for doctors who are often shown how to do things. And we don't necessarily have a lot of space for that in classic training models where maybe the lecturer just kind of gives you a lecture. I think one of the best ways to learn research is by doing it and looking over the shoulder of somebody else struggling with a step in research, even if it's not directly yours. It's just a fantastic way to learn. And I love interdisciplinary spaces because it's a raw fuel for creativity and ideas. So it's great feedback for me to Alexandra to hear what what you found was really helpful for you so that I can continue to emphasize and develop those parts of our training. Yeah, excited to be with you at the next steps in the journey. And I know you've got some other papers and thesis.