Professional Identity Formation: Finding Your Place
This is the second blog in a series about navigating the non-linear journey of forming a professional identity. We interviewed a wide variety of health care professionals about their journeys. Their lived experiences and related concepts can guide you in each stage of your career.
I used to think that I wanted to be like certain people,
[but] I wouldn't have done a good job trying to be them.
–Adam Sharp, MD
Adam's Journey
In this blog, we share Adam Sharp’s story and themes that shaped his journey in medicine and health care.
Adam, a University of Utah School of Medicine alum, stopped practicing medicine about a year and a half ago to serve as CEO of Galvan Health, a startup company connecting people to data that helps them take ownership of their health and wellness.
Adam’s career has been an unexpected journey rooted in self-trust, family, belief, and impact.
Listen to the complete interview with Adam Sharp on the RealMD podcast.
We must let go of the life we have planned,
so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.
–Joseph Campbell
Self-Trust
When Adam decided to apply for medical school, he was met with swift opposition from his pre-med advisor. With a reputation for being right 95% of the time, the advisor told Adam, “You'll never get into medical school.” Call it innate self-confidence or a deeper belief in himself—Adam still applied and defied the advisor’s odds.
In medical school, a strong work ethic helped him navigate the rapid learning pace of the curriculum. An emergency medicine elective sparked something in Adam. “This is what I imagined physicians do,” he remembers. He was exposed to multiple specialties and interacted with a wide variety of patients from all walks of life. This experience resonated with Adam’s personal values of service, compassion, dignity, and respect.
After completing his residency in Indianapolis, Indiana, he wanted to be intentional about matching his training with his interests. Little did he know that a change in course was ahead.
Mentors Who Believe In You
During residency in Indiana, Adam’s emergency medicine progam director Jennifer Walthall became his mentor. In conversation one day, Adam expressed an interest in research. Jennifer connected Adam with Thomas Inui, MD, at Indiana University. Inui, former director for the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, encouraged Adam to apply. With support and guidance from Jennifer, Adam applied and was accepted into the Robert Wood Johnson program at the University of Michigan.
Tony Tsai, director of education strategy for the Univeristy of Michigan Medical School, became another trusted mentor for Adam. He encouraged Adam to reflect on his clinical and research aspirations. The wheels started turning as Adam considered future opportunities that aligned with his aspirations. Tony helped Adam find clarity and purpose in his research fellowship.
Adam didn’t necessarily set out to become a clinical researcher. But he believed scientific evolution held the key to understanding what diagnostics and therapeutics bring the best outcomes for patients.
Along the winding career path, it can be hard to see how the pieces are coming together. It’s often an incremental process. For Adam, exploring the connection between his research and his patients became the throughline. Learning to trust in yourself and your values and passions brings things into focus and shapes a way forward.
You don't choose your family.
They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.
–Desmond Tutu
Family and Belief
Adam relied on the support of his wife, Amy, their four children, and his faith community to navigate the twists and turns on his career path. Prioritizing his family and beliefs helped him strike a balance in his personal and professional life.
Adam remembers how a UCLA research mentor reacted when his church invited him to serve in a volunteer leadership capacity. “You cannot do that,” the research mentor said. “You can never succeed in your profession if you're going to do that. You should turn that down.” In spite of this advice, Adam followed his inner convictions and accepted the service opportunity. Rather than distracting him from his professional goals, the experience increased his resolve to serve humanity.
When Adam and Amy received the devastating news that their daughter had a fatal brain tumor, their faith community rallied around them. Adam believes a miracle of faith and modern medicine explains how she continues to thrive more than seven years later.
These are the moments that bring everything into perspective. Jobs will come and go. But family, community, and belief remain. Your family is your team for life. Don’t let the activities and distractions of daily life take you away from the fundamental responsibility you have to family.
In a world where there is so much to be done, I felt strongly impressed that there must be something for me to do.
–Dorothea Dix
Impact
Trusting in himself and focusing on his family led Adam to another unexpected career pivot. His “aha” moment came during the early days of COVID-19. While working as a physician researcher at Kaiser Permanente, Adam’s research team recognized that basic comorbidities such as age, race, BMI, and vital signs could determine who is at higher risk of severe COVID-19 symptoms. This data could be used to help direct limited resources to higher risk populations.
Much to Adam’s dismay, his research team’s findings were overshadowed by national experts who were not gathering data on the frontlines—and patients were on the losing end.
This was a turning point for Adam. His purpose was clear. Every patient deserves to have the information they need to make informed decisions for themselves and their families. “[This knowledge] shouldn't be filtered through organizations, insurance, or governments,” Adam explained. “It really should go direct to people. Let them decide… It shouldn’t be somebody else making those decisions.”
Knowing Your “Why”
After a successful career in academic medicine, Adam decided he could have a greater impact on others in his current role as CEO of Galvan Health. The Silicon Slopes-based tech company builds wellness-centered blockchain-based products using AI and digital rewards as incentives for healthy behaviors.
As a leader, Adam strives to articulate his “why” and help others do the same. A startup company has its inherent ups and downs. It’s imperative for Adam to remind himself and his teams of the deeper purpose behind their work: galvanizing people to become the healthiest version of themselves.
Like most of us, Adam doesn’t know how his career will continue to unfold. As Steve Jobs once said of life, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.” In the current moment, you can only move forward with courage.
Self-trust, family, belief, and impact will continue to shape Adam’s life and career story.
How could trusting yourself, relationships, belief, and impact influence your own story?
Other Blogs In This Series
