Fostering leadership to build a successful team with Dr. Tommaso Falcone, plus endometriosis legislation and advocacy

Gynecologic Surgeons Unscrubbed

Dr. Cara King (@drcaraking) hosts surgical leader and expert Tommaso Falcone, MD, Professor of Surgery at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University and Chairman of the ObGyn & Women's Health Institute at Cleveland Clinic. Dr. King also interviews women’s health advocacy expert Megan Evans, MD, MPH (@MeganEvansMD).

They discuss:

• What it takes to be a leader and the components of leadership to build an outstanding department (serving your staff, emotional intelligence, recognizing and fostering talent, living the passion for women’s health)
• Identifying talent to build a successful team
• Recruiting leaders
• When a recruit does not work out
• Advice for making the jump to department chairperson
• The 3 types of mentors and their roles

* * *

Women’s health advocacy with Megan Evans

• What is happening legislatively when it comes to endometriosis?
  • 6368/A. 484: Bill at the federal level focusing on education. Introduced in New York by State Senator Monica Martinez and State Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal. It is awaiting the Governor’s signature.
    • Requires State Commissioner of Health to provide educational materials on endometriosis to school districts (school nurses) and clinicians throughout the state—focusing on earlier diagnosis of the condition.
  • Which campaigns are using social media to get the word out about endometriosis?
    • For the New York bill, the Endometriosis Foundation of America is running a campaign called #LetsTalkPeriod
    • Social media is a powerful tool to use for contacting local and national representatives to advocate for issues
    • Favorite social media platforms to discuss bills
  • What bills regarding endometriosis are currently active at the national level?
    • Res. 118 (116th Congress): Bipartisan and bicameral bill that recognizes endometriosis as an unmet disease, designates March as endometriosis awareness month, and provides funding for endometriosis research. Introduced by Senator Tammy Duckworth and Congressman David Scott.
    • Other bills that include endometriosis (but are not specific to the condition) include a House bill introduced by Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (HR 3865). It amends the public Health Service Act, which aims to reduce the amount of chemicals included in feminine hygiene products and investigate the link to included chemicals and female cancers, infertility, and endometriosis.
    • Another bill has been introduced and hopes to ensure contraception access (HR 2182 /S 1086), which is essential to women with endometriosis, as hormonal contraception is important as a treatment option for endometriosis symptoms.
    • A final bill also is in the introductory stages (S 1461 /H 2803), and it aims to require insurance coverage for infertility treatments.

* * *

Suggested reading

The Serving Leader: Five Powerful Actions to Transform Your Team, Business, and Community
by Kenneth R. Jennings and John Stahl-Wert

Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World
by Stan McChrystal, Chris Fussell, and Tatum Collins

* * *

This podcast is developed in collaboration with the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons

Email the show: [e-mail]

Interact with us on Twitter: @MDedgeObGyn @drcaraking @MeganEvansMD

For more MDedge Podcasts, go to mdedge.com/podcasts