Jana Kosmopoulos, MBA, MHA

I attribute my success to listening more and caring deeply about what I do. My previous mentor taught me that people don't listen anymore - they're too fast to back up their actions or support their decisions. If people would listen more to constructive criticism and use what they hear to better themselves, there's so much internal work that can be done. When you work internally to listen more, pay attention, and alter your way of thinking, which leads to altered actions, it really becomes noticeable. A job is just a job for many of us, a way to pay the bills, a means to an end. But when something becomes loving, when something becomes second nature, when you listen to patients and care about what you do, it really comes to the top, it comes to the surface, and that's when it's noticeable to your higher-ups and your surgeons. Because I listened to my supervisors and altered my actions, my surgeons now allow me to work from home, whereas no one from our OBGYN department of 50 people has that ability. It's because I have listened and cared, and that comes up to the surface and works for our benefit.

The best career advice I ever received was to listen more. It came from my previous mentor who had just left and went to cardiology. She taught me that people don't listen anymore - they're just very fast to either try to back up their actions or support a decision they made. If people would listen more to criticism, to constructive criticism, and use what they hear to better themselves, I think there's so much internal work that can be done. When you work internally to listen more, to pay attention, to alter your way of thinking which would lead to altered actions, it really becomes noticeable. The other piece of advice was about caring. Quite often, a job is just a job for many of us, a way to pay the bills, a means to an end. But when something becomes loving, when something becomes second nature, when you listen to patients and care about what you do, it really comes to the top, comes to the surface, and that's when it's noticeable to your higher-ups, to your surgeons in my case.

Have a thick skin. Never take no for an answer. Think outside the box and don't go with how you've been only told to apply. When I wanted to join Northwell Health full-time, I saw a job ad on their website that was only offered to Northwell employees, not to any Harry off the street. But because it fit my criteria - it was part-time, 9 to 1, so I could drop off my daughters at school, come to work, and pick them up again - I decided to walk into the office with my resume in my hand. I printed out my resume, went to the office, and said, listen, I know this is only open to employees, but I have my bachelor's, I'm a quick learner, I'm responsible, give me a chance. Lo and behold, they called me, I set up an interview with my surgeons, and I started the following month. My advice would be to think outside the box, don't take the normal status quo. Go to LinkedIn, I'm very active on LinkedIn and trying to grow with this generation and increase my profile. Just hang in there, never lose hope, and always, always, always listen to constructive criticism. As women, we've been trained to walk the line so often. Girls and women are told to walk the line, do as you're told, follow the rules, don't make too much commotion. But at the end of the day, if you don't make commotion, you're not noticed. I have vowed, even with my daughters, to break that cycle.

The biggest challenge in my field is the highly emotional nature of the work. It is extremely emotional, to say the very least. I still, after six years, five and a half years, cry with patients on the phone. There's no story that is 'oh, I've heard this before' - every single patient is new, their story is new. A patient was getting married and she lost her twins right before, two weeks before her wedding. It is extremely emotional work. The doctors sometimes have created more of a thicker skin, but I to this day still cry with my patients. This is an emotionally and physically demanding, mentally draining position. It's not for everyone - it takes certain people to do it, it takes a lot of heart. Many individuals are just not cut out for this type of work. Another challenge is that the services and closure we offer are not really available to many women, which is why our fellowship program and training the next generation of doctors is so important - we are paving the road in a time where what we offer is not highly available.

Patience, perseverance, and the belief that everything is figureoutable are the values most important to me. As cookie cutter as it sounds, perseverance is key. Things are never always bad - a difficult time is never always bad. At some point, you come up from underneath. When I first started in my position, I thought I was the first person to coin this, but apparently Etsy is definitely on this already - everything is figureoutable. There is always a way out. It's just the way you wait, and again, listen and persevere, and just stick to something long enough that you'll see somehow there is a way out. This is a quote I tell my surgeons all the time. They will give me an impossible task, and it would seem a mountain of a task, but I say everything is figureoutable, I'll figure it out. It takes a little perseverance, a little here, a little there, and I figure things out always. The attributes would definitely be to listen, but also to persevere, to hang in there, and we always will come around. Nothing is forever bad. I'm very positive, and especially with what I do, I haven't been jaded as of yet, so I still remain positive. I tell my patients the same thing - you have to get closure and hang in there, you just have to hang in there because something better will come.