MUSC alum returns to give tips for success to current students

It’s been seven years since Julius Hamilton, M.D., graduated from MUSC. His career is busy and fulfilling, and on Wednesday he returned to campus to share with current students some of his tips for success. 

“I get paid to put people to sleep every day,” the cardiothoracic anesthesiologist joked. “I’m on vacation, so I won’t do that today.” 

Hamilton appeared as part of the Diversity Alumni Speakers Series organized by the Office of Student Programs and Student Diversity. He said he wanted students to think about the “unsaid curriculum” – expectations that others have that are often assumed but aren’t explicitly explained to students or residents. 

He advised students to build up their reputations by working hard, being truthful, finding a mentor and then being willing to listen to the mentor’s honest criticisms.  With that guidance, they should figure out what the expectations are and then exceed them. Ask for help when they need it, he told them, and ultimately, he said, they should aim to learn something new every day. 

Hamilton, who is African-American, told the audience of mostly African-American students that, for better or for worse, they will stand out in a group. At MUSC, he said, there were a “reasonable number” of African-American men and women in his class. But in his residency at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, he was the lone African-American in a group of 18. In other specialties or at other hospitals, African-Americans might find themselves alone in a group of 30 or even 40 residents, he said. 

“People are going to notice your presence. Use it to your advantage. If you do excellent work, people will notice early that you’re doing excellent work,” he advised.  

And, he added, residents should work hard in all rotations, not just the specialties they’re interested in. He related how, when he was interviewing for a fellowship, he expected that the interviewers would consult his residency supervisors on the cardiac rotation, since that was his area of interest. 

“Little did I know that some of the most important phone calls that were made about me were not to cardiac anesthesiologists,” he said. 

“Whether you know it or not, your reputation will open or close doors for you for the entirety of your career."

 

Julius Hamilton, M.D.

What he didn’t know was that the director of obstetrics at his hospital had long ago trained one of the attending physicians who had just interviewed him for the fellowship, so the attending naturally called the obstetrician. 

Similarly, as his fellowship at Emory University School of Medicine neared its end and he began interviewing for jobs, he expected interviewers to speak to his supervisors at Emory. He didn’t know that the president of the private practice group he was interviewing with was friends with the chairman of a community hospital just outside Chicago where he had done a short rotation during residency. Nor did he know that one of the partners at the private practice group was friends with a pain doctor at the University of Chicago. Both made calls to their friends to get their assessments of Hamilton.  

“Those are the kind of phone calls, whether you recognize it or not, in every level of your training, every level of your job search, there will be conversations behind the scenes. So it’s really important that you protect your reputation to the best of your ability,” he said. 

And, he noted, when those behind-the-scenes phone calls relay negative opinions, the resident will never even know the phone calls were made. 

“Whether you know it or not, your reputation will open or close doors for you for the entirety of your career,” he said.  

Hamilton also encouraged the students to become lifelong advocates for their patients – from the bedside to the halls of Congress. 

Minority students, he said, are “bilingual” in a sense. They can translate “medical speak” for people who might not fully understand what’s being said but might be too intimidated to speak up. Hamilton said there were many times as a medical student and resident when he would return to a patient’s room after rounds to ensure the patient understood what was happening. It’s something he still does today as an attending physician, he said. 

He also encouraged the students to get involved in political efforts. Every profession advocates for itself, he said, and the medical profession is no different. Health care providers are best positioned to explain to legislators or regulators the harms or benefits of different proposals, he said. Hamilton is the chairman of the Georgia Society of Anesthesiologists political action committee and serves on the board of directors for the American Society of Anesthesiologists PAC. He also sits on the American Board of Medical Specialties Stakeholder Council. 

He urged the students to find a way to advocate, whether it’s meeting with lawmakers, writing letters to the editor, volunteering in election efforts or getting involved in medical organizations. 

“Medicine isn’t practiced in a vacuum,” he said. 

It’s a part of professional citizenship to get involved in politics and to advocate for patients, he said.