Why radiology must learn from NBA great Kobe Bryant, adopt a ‘Mamba Mentality’
This year has been going on for so long now, it’s easy to forget that 2020 also included the tragic death of NBA great Kobe Bryant back in January. But two radiologists are urging their peers to remember the Los Angeles Lakers legend’s legacy as they attempt to navigate through these trying times.
Bryant lived with what he called a “Mamba Mentality,” a play on his nickname, which is about “focusing on the process and trusting in the hard work when it matters most. It is the ultimate mantra for the competitive spirt. Hard work outweighs talent every time.”
Omer Abdul Rehman Awan, MD, and N. Reed Dunnick, MD, believe this mentality “transcends sports” and could prove helpful for those struggling through 2020, they wrote Monday in Academic Radiology.
“It is no surprise that the incidence of depression is rising among healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic, and burnout has become a major problem in radiology. The negativity that we are constantly seeing and hearing on the daily news regarding loss of lives, political turmoil and systemic racism in society can understandably have detrimental effects on all of us,” Awan and Dunnick, with the universities of Maryland and Michigan, respectively, noted. “We must remember, in these uncertain times, what Kobe Bryant taught all of us before his untimely death in January 2020,” they added later.
In radiology, a Mamba Mentality would include a “relentless pursuit of excellence,” and presenting the best version of oneself each day. Members of the profession should strive to be ambassadors, advocate for patients, make reports clear and concise, and work in concert with colleagues. And it means thinking of innovative ways to engage and inspire those who are new to the profession, they added.
“Our shared desire to take care of patients, and our quest to inspire a new generation of trainees and students is precisely the reason we promised to uphold the Hippocratic oath when we chose medicine as our vocation. This is what the Mamba Mentality demands from each of us,” they concluded.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.