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Mandy J. Hill, DrPH, MPH, HIVPCP, is a first-time guest on the Faculty Factory who is highly aware of the unique challenges leaders face. She joins us this week to explore a critical yet often overlooked issue: the toxic feeling of a need to overperform in this field.
Dr. Hill currently serves as Professor and Chair of the Department of Population Health and Health Disparities, and Centennial Chair in Preventive Medicine and Community Health, in the School of Public and Population Health at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB).
Overperforming is frequently normalized because faculty are conditioned to exceed expectations rather than simply meet them. But “when that becomes the norm, you can create a toxic condition,” as Dr. Hill points out in the interview’s opening moments.
“If you are an early-stage investigator without mentors and champions willing to bring you into that ‘winning team,’ the default way of thinking is to do more,” Dr. Hill said.
Overperforming is quickly becoming (if not already) the baseline in academia. It is the overwhelming reality of the culture, so what can be done?
Autonomy and investing in ourselves are the only paths forward, and choosing when enough is enough has to be implemented or we risk creating a profession that no one will want to enter.