Course builds critical health care leadership skills Published Nov. 2, 2015 By Shannon Carabajal 59th Medical Wing Public Affairs JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas -- A new course is helping 59th Medical Wing leaders hone their leadership skills as the wing further transforms into a high-reliability organization. The first Interprofessional Clinical Leadership Program kicked off Oct. 16 at the Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center. It aims to help clinical teams - including physicians and non-physicians - improve patient care by mastering multiple clinical and leadership competencies, including interpersonal skills. As a high reliability organization, or HRO, the wing puts safe, quality care at the forefront of everything. "It's important to get (leaders at all levels) to understand where the organization is going and how we're changing. This course gives them some general principles on leadership and teaches how they can help lead the wing," said Army Col. John Ekstrand, 59th MDW Chief Medical Officer. Leaders across the board - from senior leaders down to the providers leading team huddles within clinics - are crucial to the wing's success, Ekstrand explained. Using case studies and lessons learned from programs at top medical centers around the country, the wing developed the course in-house. "We have significant expertise, significant experience within the 59th MDW. There's more legitimacy when you have somebody you know and already respect leading the discussion. It also lends itself well to follow-on discussions," Ekstrand said. The course gives students a better understanding of their role as leader, team builder, mentor, coach, and seeks a commitment to apply the principles within their duty section. The instructional format aims to stimulate discussion amongst the group. "It's Socratic teaching - leading the discussion to get to a conclusion rather than telling people the answer. This method helps people internalize lessons and recognize how it applies to them," Ekstrand said. The course includes five training days, each approximately one month apart. The first day focused on developing effective leadership and building effective teams. "Understanding the role of the provider as a leader sets the foundation for the other things we're going to discuss. We're going to (learn about) tools to use as a leader. But you have to understand your role as a leader first in order to use these tools in leadership," Ekstrand said. Dr. Scott Jones, San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium dean, led class discussions about self-leadership and team building. He believes everyone is a leader with something to contribute, especially in a health care HRO. "Group oriented, team oriented cultures are more effective cultures for embracing patient safety. We have an inherent challenge in the military because we tend to be hierarchical; we need to recognize that and intentionally say, how are we going to counter that hierarchical nature of how we see the world and train leaders who understand the importance of teamwork and self-leadership so they can lead good teams," Jones said. "Everyone is a leader. The better question is, what kind of a leader are you?" he asked the students. Future discussion topics will include mentoring, strategic vision, change management and managing conflict. "We all came into health care for a reason: to take care of patients. We want to do the right thing to take care of people, but we don't always have the skills to do what we desire to do. The purpose here is to figure out how we get to that excellence. As an organization, how can we lead ourselves to that perfect patient experience?" Ekstrand said. The next class is scheduled to begin in January. For more information, contact the 59th Medical Wing Gateway Academy at 292-8303