He also emphasizes the difference between how a doctor has been trained essentially to be an individual expert—patient presents a problem, doctor presents a solution—and how those trained to be managers and leaders operate through other people.
Leaders of the Future
Daniel Duzan, MD, a hospitalist for TeamHealth at Fort Loudoun Medical Center in Lenoir City, Tenn., southwest of Knoxville, says doctors he knows recommended the academy. He says it made sense to him because he’s “migrating toward a leadership role in my own hospital.”
“My goal for coming was to kind of lay some foundation for skills and requirements that it takes to kind of migrate from just being a regular hospitalist to being one that’s got some extra responsibility,” Dr. Duzan says.
He was happy to learn more about “some of the jargon, lingo, that’s getting pushed our direction in terms of business drivers and the objectives” as well as “what would it be like to be the CEO, etc., and kind of putting us in their shoes, hearing things, seeing things and how they think about things, then developing plans.”
Jeet Gujral, MD, a hospitalist at Southside Hospital on Long Island, N.Y., says her motivation to learn about practice management is due in part to the new demands she is feeling because of the business considerations of the hospital. Talking with other hospitalists about their experiences was a big help, she says. In fact, she adds, that was probably even more helpful than the actual content of the session.
“I think what I’m getting more out of it [is that] there are several who are feeling the same heat,” she says. “It’s nice not feeling alone.”
Tom Collins is a freelance writer based in Florida.