Guice: I tell them that they should be selfish. They should figure out what they need in order to make that next career move or wherever they see themselves next. Be really sure that when they take a new job or open the door to a new possibility, it's about where they want to be and what they need to get there. I advise them to be very introspective and think about it critically. I also remind them, based on my own observations, that they can change jobs. You don't have to stay in a bad one. You can move on. The interesting thing about bad jobs is that they often teach you more than good jobs.
Ghaffari: Do you think your advice is the same kind that you'd give to men?
Guice: Yes. I think it's applicable to anybody. You need to understand what makes you happy, what kind of work brings you joy, depending on where you are in life.
For what I'm doing now, my work habits are pretty nutty. But that's because I don't have family herea"my husband has his job, and he loves what he's doing. My kids are in college, and they love what they're doing. I have different degrees of freedom now than when the kids told me we had discharged nine nannies. I have different degrees of freedom now than when I had my mother in our home, caring for her, post-stroke. Your life changes, and you have to be open to change and opportunities. Some of the best jobs I've had came to me because I simply opened a door, took the risk, and applied for it. There's nothing to be lost. Being able to look at opportunities and then take advantage of them when they come your way is advice that I'd give everybody. It's worked out extraordinarily well for me. I've had great fun and hopefully I've contributed along the way.
Sometimes, you need to make opportunity happen. Take the initiative. That was a lesson I learned from Jim Thompson, who was the chair at Galveston. He taught me to pursue grant money to do the things that interested me. Jim said, aApply to as many granting institutions as you can because, you never know, somebody might come back with money.a It's the same philosophy about jobs. Trya"you know, you can always say ano.a If somebody accepts you for a program or a job, you can always say, aWell, upon reconsideration, I've decided not to do thata or aI'm not the best person for that.a On occasion, I would be asked to go look at chairs of surgery departments. I would interview and talk to people and then I would take myself out of the running for whatever reason. But, I had the experience of going, thinking about it, and asking myself, aWhat would it take for me to do this job? Do I like it here? Does it feel as if I fit with this group of people?a If I had said, aNo, I don't want to interview for the job,a then I wouldn't have had that opportunity to both explore what I thought I might need as a person in order to learn, be productive, grow, and contribute.
Ghaffari: Where do you see yourself in the next five to ten years?
Guice: I don't know. I mean, seriously, truly, I don't know. I turn sixty this year. My husband and I talk about this about every weekend, aWhen are we going to retire? What are we going to do when we retire?a Since we can't ever seem to agree, we just keep working.
We're lucky to have the option of continuing to work. At some point, he's going to want to stop doing what he's doing. He may want continue to practice, but maybe be chief of surgery for only the next five years. Interests change, and maybe we'll want to be doing something else. We'll figure it out, I'm sure. But five to ten years from now, I'll probably still be working somewhere, doing something interesting.