139. Knowing When to Say Yes with Sports Medicine Physician Margot Putukian

139. Knowing When to Say Yes with Sports Medicine Physician Margot Putukian

 

 

Introducing Margot Putukian

Today I’m to talking sports medicine physician Dr. Margot Putukian about knowing when to say yes.

Her Career Journey

Margot earned her BS in biology from Yale, where she played soccer. She went on to earn her MD from Boston University before completing her internal medicine residency at Strong Memorial Hospital and sports medicine fellowship at Michigan State University. Margot first served as a team physician and Director of Primary Care Sports medicine at Penn State before becoming the Director of Athletic Medicine at Princeton. She’s served as a team physician for US Soccer and US Lacrosse and is currently the Chief Medical Officer for Major League Soccer. She’s held leadership roles in numerous organizations, including serving as the president of AMSSM.

Knowing When to Say Yes

Margot admits that a challenge for her throughout her career has been knowing when to say yes and when to say no to opportunities. While she encourages women early in their careers to take on new challenges to continue growing, she shares that it’s important to follow through with quality work. For her, it’s the opportunity to work with new people and build connections, rather than attaching her name to a project, that keeps her going.

Inside this episode:

  • A lifelong soccer fan, Margot introduced herself to those within US Soccer early in her career. She started working with some of the men’s teams before moving to the women’s senior team after she was recognized for her expertise on the female athlete triad.
  • Margot has used her vacation time over the years to keep up with the international travel required to cover national teams.
  • She admits that imposter syndrome fueled many of her extracurriculars early on. Through the years, she built up a reputation for doing quality work that cause people to seek her out. 
  • During her fellowship, Margot told her mentors that she didn’t think she was a good public speaker and they forced her to give one talk a month in different venues until she counted it as a strength.
  • Margot shares how important it is not just to say yes to an opportunity, but to show up having done your homework and then listen to others. For her, it’s the collaborators she’s gotten to work with and know that stand out.

Resources

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