I have been catching up on some reading while taking this week off (you know, it's that stack in "that" place in your home, where you put that "stuff" you know you need to get to eventually!) and finally finished the last chapter of "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell, whom many of you are familiar with. I am also "forced" (gladly) to read some new things related to our profession due to accepting a faculty position this Fall. As a sidenote, I am also pleased to see the blog community evolve and see new people putting their words out there for us to learn from (cough, cough...Bill Hughes...).
One of the charges in our profession, in the academic world is how will we prepare the next managers and eventually professional management leaders in our industry? This has been a decade's long conversation in the academic field. A very good article I am currently diving into which I have referenced, does an excellent job putting together what this consortium of associations (MGMA/ACMPE was included) in what is this "thing" we, as healthcare administrators and executive do. Furthermore, how does the next generation get there?
Back to Outliers...the last chapter outlines Gladwell's family and how his future was shaped through opportunities his great-great-great grandparents took advantage of back in the 1700's. This almost (BIG almost) makes me want to trace my whole family tree back that far-but that's for another day-or another relative. If you haven't treated yourself to reading "Outliers", I encourage you to at some point. I am not going to do a book club on this, but the books' essence is this: there is no such thing as an Outlier. Outliers are nothing more than those of us who take advantage of the opportunities laid down in front of us. I know some of you are thinking-but what about the trustfund folks out there who did nothing to land up in the top 1% of the income bracket. Well...this isn't about that particular populaton, but I can bet you those trustfund babies had parents, grandparents and great-great grandparents who took advantage of the opportunities laid in front of them. In Gladwell's words, he recognizes "history's gifts" to his family.
So, as I was reading my required faculty reading, and still reflecting on Gladwell's words, I laid the historical gift transparency against my profession. I have many, many historical professional gifts that have allowed me to to get where I am and where I continue to go. This list should go without saying that there were many days (like all of us) where I questioned what I was doing in this profession and why. Here are some of my top historical professional gifts...
~My very first job in healthcare during my summer before entering undergraduate studies. My family was very poor at that time and I qualified for federal funding for this position. Ready? Tumor registry...using a card catalog. Every patient with a tumor diagnosis had a card and that card belonged in the proper card catalog. Every card-was attached to a human-with a very bad disease (that was as far as I could get at age 17 with a diagnosis). This taught me humility in the healthcare setting.
~In a world fraught with legal paranoia (yes, I used that word intentionally) after finishing my graduate degree that my practice paid for-without a contract to stay-I have never forgotten this gift. Our founding physician (who has left since) wrote it into the policy before he left. What a professional gift and chance he took-I could never thank him enough.
~Working for a group of professional physicians who are inclusive and collaborative i.e. ahead of the organizational culture curve with the entire group. This has taken 12 years since the beginning of the practice...and regardless of the debate-all voices are heard, but when the vote is final-it's final. This is a long awaited gift and it allows me to manage with decisions made by the voice of the practice-the Board and owners. I never tire of hearing the opinions of all-that is a gift as well.
~A long time ago I worked for a PCP for 5 years in the early 90's who cut all of his managed care contracts. We had a small (200 patients) boutique type of practice. I learned about real patient care in those years. We had no nurse. I chaperoned as needed (you get my drift). He administered flu shots, did his own patient histories, in essence all of the work an RN would do-he did. When we had a direct admit to the hospital, he wheeled his own patients over to the hospital or walked the patients over for the ones who refused the wheelchair. The gift? I learned what personalized primary looked like and how it changed the lives of our patients. I will never forget that opportunity-and turned down other much more lucrative positions during that time. The gift of knowing what one type of personalized healthcare can look like still guides the way I triage my day from being the only employee from many years ago.
These are just a few of my professional that I think of every week in some way. What are yours historical gifts? How can we use our professional gifts to further along the next generation of mangers and future executives? Feels good to be back on this blog created for us by MGMA (another professional gift?? :))
Have a great week-
dea.
References:
Gladwell, M. (2008) Outliers: The Story of Success, 1st ed.
Stefl, M. E. (2008) "Common Competencies for All Healthcare Managers: The Healthcare Leadership Alliance Model." Journal of Healthcare Management. (53)6: 360-372.