Are Hospitalist Leaders Born or Bred?
We all wonder if true leaders are born or bred. This eternal question of nature versus nurture applies to hospitalists just as well as it does to any group of medical providers. But given the growth rate of our specialty and the challenges that lay ahead, the question of where our future leaders will come from is more pressing than ever.
That’s why IPC will be participating in a big way in the Society of Hospital Medicine’s upcoming Hospitalist Leadership Academy Sept 22-25 in Los Angeles. IPC is sponsoring 30 hospitalists to fly in to attend this program. All of our participants are Practice Group Leaders for their respective practices from around the country.
For the hospitalists participating in the program it is a significant investment of their time to take four days out of their busy schedule. It also creates a burden on their practice partners who have to cover in their absence. Not to mention the considerable investment on the part of IPC to bring all these doctors to the program. But to my way of thinking there is simply no choice. Hospital medicine needs leaders who are fully trained and committed to making their practices the very best they can be. Are the leadership skills of our practice group leaders the result of their training, or are they born leaders? I don’t know, but I’m not taking any chances. I want both.
