By Kaitlin McKernan (G4)
The MSTP held its 10th Biennial Leadership Workshop II on Saturday, August 16th, 2025. Leadership Workshop II (LWII) is attended by upper-year MSTP students (G4/G5+ and M4s), and it is a structured curriculum aimed at building leadership skills fundamental to the physician-scientist career path, with a focus on leadership in the clinical space and navigating the transition to residency.
The LWII planning committee was grateful to our four faculty facilitators, Dr. Bill Cooper, Dr. Celestine Wanjalla, Dr. Ben Park, and Dr. Kelly Dooley, for their time and expertise throughout the workshop. This is the third LWII in which Dr. Cooper, the Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Pediatrics, has led the day’s program, and Drs. Wanjalla, Park, and Dooley each led one of three sessions in addition to being present for guidance throughout the whole day.
The day began with a session titled, “Promoting Optimal Teamwork,” led by Dr. Park, who has a wide range of experiences leading teams as a PI and the Director of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. In this session, students learned attributes of effective teams and brainstormed in groups ways to create welcoming and efficient teams.
The second session, “Addressing Variations in Performance,” was facilitated by Dr. Dooley, Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases. In this session students practiced how to respond to situations when expectations of a team are not met through “coffee chats” and constructive criticisms. Dr. Celestine Wanjalla, Assistant Professor of Infectious Diseases, led the final session called, “Leading Change: Telling Your Story,” where she shared her inspiring journey to medicine. Through this time, students practiced in pairs sharing their passion stories in interview style.
The workshop ended with a panel session with the four facilitators to allow students to ask questions, accompanied by a happy hour and hors d’oeuvres. The Leadership Workshop II Planning Committee (Anvith Reddy (G2), Bruno Hidalgo (G2), Kimmy Bress (G4), and Kaitlin McKernan (G4)) are so grateful to the facilitators for their wisdom and participation in this workshop and to Bryn Sierra (MSTP Senior Program Manager) for all of the time and energy put into ensuring the success of this event.