MUSC Excellence at the University
COM/UMA eye
professionalism at LDI #3
The
College of Medicine (COM) and University Medical Associates' (UMA)
third Leadership Development Institute session gathered physicians,
researchers and leaders to focus on the organization’s success so far
in their journey. This session focused on professionalism and reviewed the progress made by employees as it relates to employee and physician satisfaction, use of tools and skills to meet goals and enrich performances, as well as maintain support of the organization’s five pillar goals of people, service, quality, growth and finance.
Dr. Jordan Cohen
address LDI participants Aug. 7.Jordan J. Cohen, M.D., a professor of medicine and public health at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and president emeritus of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), was the event’s guest speaker.
Cohen emphasized the value of professionalism as a ethic invaluable to medicine and the public it is pledged to serve. He also addressed the differences of commercialism and its threat to replace medical professionalism unless physicians can help preserve and reassert the profession’s core values among practitioners and the general public and the role medical education has in it.
Cohen was among six recipients of an honorary degree during May’s MUSC Commencement. He was presented with a doctor of medical sciences, honoris causa.
During Cohen’s presidency at the AAMC (1994 to 2006), he led the association’s support and service to the nation’s medical schools and teaching hospitals, and served as the nation’s leading spokesperson for academic medicine. Cohen expanded and modernized AAMC services for medical students, residents and constituents; strengthened the association’s communications, advocacy, and data gathering; and established new initiatives to improve medical education, research and patient care.
Prior to his leadership of the AAMC, he was dean of the medical school and professor of medicine at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and president of the medical staff at University Hospital.
Cohen has held medical faculty positions at Harvard, Brown and Tufts universities. A graduate of Yale University and Harvard Medical School, Cohen is a member of the American College of Physicians.
COM/UMA Pillar Goals
- People—We make MUSC a great place to be.
- Service—Serve patients, families and each other with compassion, respect, dignity and pride.
- Quality—Achieve the highest standards of excellence in patient care, research and education through interdisciplinary programs with a diverse faculty and student body.
- Growth—Achieve national recognition for excellence in clinical, educational and research activities.
- Finance—Generate the resources required to attract and keep excellent people, and optimize patient care.
MUSC Excellence Dean’s Report
Dear Colleagues,I am pleased to report about the issues discussed and plans made at the College of Medicine’s daylong MUSC Excellence Retreat held Sept. 7 at the Omar Shrine Temple. Approximately 300 faculty and staff leaders from the College and UMA were there to continue our commitment to MUSC Excellence. Deans of the other colleges and the provost were also in attendance as we continue to expand and diversify participation in this drive.
We began celebrating some of our “wins” by reading letters commending some of the people who have been doing extraordinary things such as Lynn Miller in UMA billing; Dr. Francis Spinale ( Surgery) and the entire Cardiothoracic Surgery Research Laboratory; Dr. David Adams (Surgery), for whom one of his patients named “Dr. David Adams Day;” and the marine genomics program at the Hollings Marine Biomedicine Center, where Dr. Mitchell Sogin of Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory in Massachusetts commended Dr. Eric Lacy (Marine Biomedicine and Environmental Sciences Center) for recruiting such promising young students.
Guest speaker Dr. Jordan Cohen warned us in his keynote address of the possible erosion of professional ethics by commercialism. Dr. Cohen further challenged us to differentiate professionalism from humanism, pointing out that professionalism might simply be acting and that a true professional must not only act but be.
“Humanism provides the passion that animates authentic professionalism,” said Dr. Cohen. “The key to valuing the profession is to profess and live its values.”
Our Task Force on Professionalism presented a video scenario relating to professional ethics, good communications and the practice of problem-solving strategies regarding a hypothetical research grant submission. Dr. Barbara Tilley (Biostatistics, Bioinformatics & Epidemiology) challenged participants to find a possible solution. A video vignette reinforced the importance of recognizing and respecting the tenets of professionalism in our interactions with colleagues, particularly as it pertains to the mentoring role, which is a cornerstone in the foundation of academic medical centers.
Dr. Bill Hueston (Family Medicine) reviewed information on employee satisfaction data. He reminded the audience that the organization’s goal is to get everyone “on board” with MUSC Excellence. He emphasized that the organization needs to recognize and reward employees who are truly committed to excellence. We also need to take time to listen and respond to our staff on key issues and allow them to participate in decision-making processes in order to assure ongoing success. “This is not MUSC mediocrity. It is called MUSC Excellence for a reason,” he said.
Dr. Deborah Deas (College of Medicine) reported on the extraordinary success that the College of Medicine has had in improving the diversity of our students, residents and faculty in recent years. Diversity improves our overall quality and is one of our key pillar goals. The strides we have made in enhancing our diversity are also the result of each department chair’s success in developing and implementing individual diversity plans. Dr. Deas also presented a video examining the definition of diversity among leadership, faculty and staff and its importance in science, and its impact on excellence within and beyond our institution.
Dr. Peter Kalivas (Neurosciences) reported on faculty survey results regarding research. He also noted that although the imperatives of the research enterprise may not be entirely aligned with those of the clinical and educational arenas, there are key areas within each pillar domain that impact the research environment directly. Overall we were rated as slightly above average by our investigators, and a number of areas were identified for potential improvement. Dr. Kalivas reported that although investigators rated faculty above average, other areas were identified for improvement including leaders allowing staff to be proactive in identifying and addressing problems, the consistent use of feedback to improve quality, and recognizing team members.
Finally, Dr. Bruce Elliott (Surgery and MUSC Excellence COM/UMA champion) and I answered some tough questions. Dr. Elliott echoed his earlier reflection that “professionalism is the defining characteristic of a leader.” We need to lead by example and hold ourselves and each other accountable for adopting and maintaining the behaviors that we know are critical to success.
The organization is currently striving to improve the “10-5 challenge.” All MUSC employees should make an effort as we walk around campus to make eye contact at 10 feet as we encounter another person, and at 5 feet acknowledge the person with a cheerful “hello, good morning, good afternoon or that wonderful Southern acknowledgment—hey.”
At the end of the meeting we were all reminded to act on our “to do” lists to help us all continue down the road to MUSC Excellence. This is a journey we are all taking together.
Thank you for your ongoing commitment to this individual and collective journey.
Jerry Reves, M.D.
Vice President for Medical Affairs
Dean, College of Medicine
Friday, Sept. 21, 2007
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