Celebrating Mentorship in the Department of Surgery
Mentorship is often described as a cornerstone of professional growth, and for many aspiring medical students, the guidance of a great mentor can leave a lifelong impact. This statement rings especially true for students mentored by Farzaneh Banki, MD, Professor of Medicine in the Department of Surgery. Her group has constantly produced scholarly works spearheaded by medical students, creating opportunities for them to present at national meetings and to publish as first authors.
Most of the time, she recruits her mentees as MS1s, and they work with her doing clinical research for two years before they get into their busy clinical rotations (although some students have been with her for much longer than that). There is a formal interview process, where Dr. Banki’s students say she tries to get a sense of what experiences they have already had, what their goals are, and if they seem like the dedicated, hardworking professionals that she enjoys mentoring.
She has many mentees under her wing at any given time – sometimes as many as eight. They are assigned to projects in pairs, and the entire group meets weekly at her Southeast office for 5 hours every Saturday morning, where they create databases, work on their data analytics, and produce their scholarly works. Her mentorship comes with a focus on building foundational skills. “Each session begins with a teaching component where she walks us through a patient’s hospital course, fostering our clinical decision-making skills and building confidence in case presentations,” states one of her students.
This hands-on approach continues as students take ownership of their research projects. Her students say Dr. Banki’s strategy is to start with manageable projects, gradually introducing more complexity as students grow in confidence and capability. She exemplifies what it means to lead with integrity, dedication, and a passion for both teaching and clinical excellence. “Her emphasis on integrity and precision ensures that everything her office produces upholds the highest standards.” says one of her mentees. Another student recalls a time when Dr. Banki’s team unknowingly submitted an abstract with a data error to a national conference, and the error was only found after the fact. Immediately, she emailed the organization and retracted the entire abstract (which had already been accepted, mind you), apologizing profusely for her team’s minor error. “She is extremely ethical and strives to ensure that all of her work reflects that.”
Dr. Banki’s students have presented work at Western Surgical, SSAT, and other national conferences through her mentorship. She even helps personally fund travel for students not covered by the medical school or other grants to attend the conferences when their work is accepted. They have also been published in esteemed journals like the Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery, JACS, and Foregut.
Chatting with any of her medical student mentees, it is clear that Dr. Banki’s personal investment in their success leaves a lasting positive impact on them as they move through their training. It is a shining example of mentorship within our department, which we are proud to highlight.