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Jeff welcomes to the podcast anesthesiologist and physician coach, Scott Markowitz, MD.

There’s always the potential for things to spiral out of control in the OR. When that happens, it can be helpful to be pulled back from the situation by a trusted colleague who can help you view the situation objectively and bump you back into being your best self. Sometimes it’s not feasible to do that in the OR itself. If that’s the case, there will likely be opportunities throughout the rest of the day to connect with a trusted colleague. Doing this consistently over time can help you build stronger professional relationships and make you less likely to derail when things get hectic.

In medicine, there are a lot of “villain” or “victim” narratives that we’re exposed to throughout our education and training. It’s important to recognize and move past those and move from a problem mindset to an outcome mindset. Nurturing a professional relationship with your colleagues goes a long way in recognizing the shared outcomes that we’re all striving towards.

Remember that it’s difficult to build a relationship when one or both people are activated. It’s so easy to destroy trust. In order to build trust you need to recognize when the time is right and wrong to approach a complex conversation. Address these important issues when both parties are not activated for optimal outcomes.

What steps does Scott suggest we take to build trust?

• Step 1 - Develop Professional Relationships with Colleagues. This can make you less likely to derail and more likely to “re-rail” when things go poorly.
• Step 2 - Avoid Villain and Victim Narratives. These only work to divide us and prevent us from achieving our shared goals.
• Step 3 - Explicitly State Shared Goals. This can be extremely helpful in resetting us from villain or victim stories and recognizing that we’re all pushing the same rock up the hill.

Most importantly, practice an outcome mindset!

BIO:

Scott D. Markowitz, MD, MSOL, FAAP, BCC (he, him, his) is the Chief Executive Officer of Physician Leadership, LLC, and serves as a Leadership Coach with the Chimera Leadership Group. In his clinical career, Dr. Markowitz held the position of Professor of Anesthesiology and Vice-Chair for Professional Development and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Washington University in St. Louis. There, he spearheaded the establishment of an office dedicated to measuring departmental culture, engagement, and wellbeing. Dr. Markowitz has been instrumental in producing and sponsoring programs aimed at fostering engagement, resilience, professional development, and a more diverse and inclusive leadership environment. He co-chairs the subcommittee on harassment, incivility, and disrespect for the American Society of Anesthesiologists, and serves on the advisory board for the Women’s Empowerment and Leadership Initiative of the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia. In this role, he co-developed their leadership curriculum and chairs the curriculum committee.

SurgeonMasters is a physician peer community dedicated to improving the personal and professional well-being of physicians.

Join your colleagues online at SurgeonMasters.com for events, resources, and more.

PRACTICE Your Best!

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Pump the brakes on your week and take 10 minutes to make your life as a surgeon just a little better…

Jeff welcomes to the podcast physician and physician coach, Scott Markowitz, MD.

When working in the OR, situations sometimes arise that activate the people in the room (whether it be surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists, or others). That activation can be caused by a variety of issues from inefficiencies, to scheduling conflicts. Once activated, people often carry that with them into the next experience.

The same thing happens on the other side of the drape which can cause situations to become increasingly tense. When that happens it’s important to take a step back and realize that everyone ultimately has the same goal - to provide excellent care to the patient.

What steps does Scott suggest we take to improve the environment in the operating room when it feels like parties are at odds with one another?

• Step 1 - Take a Moment. Step back from the situation and try to evaluate it objectively. Recognize if you or the other party is being negatively impacted by outside forces (perhaps you didn’t sleep well the night before), and understand that you both ultimately want what’s best for the patient.
• Step 2 - Build Relationships. This doesn’t happen overnight, but if you build up good professional relationships with your team, there will likely be less friction in the room. When you have a long-standing rapport, you can recognize when your colleague is being sarcastic or when they’re having a bad day.
• Step 3 - Communicate Openly & Effectively. Honest communication among colleagues is also key inside and outside the OR. If something happens that activates you, don’t let it fester. Communicate your concerns in a professional manner.

Most importantly, PRACTICE understanding the other side of the drape!

BIO:

Scott D. Markowitz, MD, MSOL, FAAP, BCC (he, him, his) is the Chief Executive Officer of Physician Leadership, LLC, and serves as a Leadership Coach with the Chimera Leadership Group. In his clinical career, Dr. Markowitz held the position of Professor of Anesthesiology and Vice-Chair for Professional Development and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Washington University in St. Louis. There, he spearheaded the establishment of an office dedicated to measuring departmental culture, engagement, and wellbeing. Dr. Markowitz has been instrumental in producing and sponsoring programs aimed at fostering engagement, resilience, professional development, and a more diverse and inclusive leadership environment. He co-chairs the subcommittee on harassment, incivility, and disrespect for the American Society of Anesthesiologists, and serves on the advisory board for the Women’s Empowerment and Leadership Initiative of the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia. In this role, he co-developed their leadership curriculum and chairs the curriculum Committee.

SurgeonMasters is a physician peer community dedicated to improving the personal and professional well-being of physicians.

Join your colleagues online at SurgeonMasters.com for events, resources, and more.

PRACTICE Your Best!

Send us a text

Pump the brakes on your week and take 10 minutes to make your life as a surgeon just a little better…

Jeff welcomes to the podcast board-certified orthopedic surgeon and chief medical officer at Connecticut Orthopedics, Dr. Alan Reznik.

In the field of surgery, introverts and extroverts behave differently in situations where communication is important. Introverts tend to need more time to formulate answers and might agree with an extrovert who has taken the lead in a situation. Extroverts, on the other hand, tend to formulate answers more quickly and jump in with ideas.

If you want a good opinion from an introvert, you may need to tip them off ahead of time that a question will come up in a meeting. This gives them some lead time to process and hopefully share their opinions before the meeting. Conversely, it’s often good to couch their answers with a perspective and agree with them that they’re providing valuable information when dealing with an extrovert.

In the operating room, the surgeon is likely extroverted, even if they don’t know it. This can deters others in the room from speaking up. It’s important to know that you are open to hearing ideas from everyone in the operating room - especially the introverts.

What steps does Alan suggest we take to manage introverts and extroverts inside and outside the OR?

• Step 1 - Understand the power you hold in the room as a surgeon.
• Step 2 - Foster an environment where introverts and extroverts feel comfortable speaking up.

Most importantly, PRACTICE awareness of personality types!

Guest Bio: Alan Reznik, MD, MBA

Dr. Reznik is a practicing orthopaedic surgeon and involved in medical teaching for over 30 years. He is recognized as one of “America’s Top Physicians” by Consumers Research Council of America and named “Top Doc” in Connecticut over 20 times by his orthopaedic surgeon peers, physicians, nurses and patients. He has served on many committees for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons including editorial board of AAOS Now. He has written "The Knee and Shoulder Handbook, the keys to a pain-free and active life" and "I have fallen and I can get up"on fall risks and prevention. An inventor, he holds 8 patents. He has lectured on patient safety, surgical risk reduction and AI development, liability and ethical use.

"It is with the understanding of differing perspectives, combining disciplines, constant collaboration, and an open mind that one achieves the best path forward." Dr. Alan Reznik

SurgeonMasters is a physician peer community dedicated to improving the personal and professional well-being of physicians.

Join your colleagues online at SurgeonMasters.com for events, resources, and more.

PRACTICE Your Best!