I’ve been an orthopaedic surgeon for decade and I thought I’ve done everything I can do to every orthopedic case in my area of practice. My mentors wasted no time training me to be a lifelong learner, provided me skills to handle most orthopedic cases and instilled professionalism and strict adherence to ethical values. These were tested of course and boosted my confidence to handle cases I have minimal exposure before, like wartime injuries. I thought performance was primarily measured by the physician surviving a challenging practice. Clearly, I am mistaken.
It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts
John Wooden
The changing concepts and technology in medicine nowadays increases practice demands. Outcomes measure performance, leadership and business skills determine successful practice and government regulatory mandates are burgeoning by the day. In the field of practice, there’s no reliable way of determining your level of performance as a physician. Did my performance plateaued or dipped. Where or who would you go to? Academe? Previous mentors? Peers? For many physicians and surgeons out of the academe, this isn’t easy.
Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence
Vince Lombardi
What is a coach?
A coach is a a teacher, leader, motivator and critic with typically more experience than the learner . The coach may not be the most talented performers in their field but their intangible “wisdom” from tireless study of the field compensate for this. Ironically, most of the coaches gain their insights in the field from their “failure” in the field.
Coach Vs. Mentor
Although both mentors and coaches aim for the success of the mentee or coachee, the former is more of a role model and the coach, a critic. We have our mentors mostly in the academe, during med school or training and they usually remain there. The coach if ever we do actively search for one, are often found in practice.
You don’t have enough talent to win on talent alone
Herb Brooks ( US Team Hockey Coach that won over the much talented, physically intimidating Soviet Union team)
Many of the successful people we admire (particularly those outside medicine) have coaches behind even at their peak performance. Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant have Phil Jackson, Manny Pacquiao (the boxer) have Freddie Roach. Even tech giants Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Erich Schmidt (Hello, Google) and Steve Jobs ( of Apple) have Bill Campbell coaching them. So why can’t physicians be coached?
T1. What are the barriers to coaching healthcare professionals?
If you are going to win games, you had better be ready to adapt
Scotty Bowman
Generally, the practice of medicine has this negative perception of coaching. In med school and training, one may easily find a mentor or role models to hone ones craft. In practice, many physicians are on their own and rarely connects with previous academic mentors. To many colleagues, being coached meant a “faltering confidence”, lack of skill and or even lack of independence. Patients who see their physician being coached may interpret this as a sign of incompetence. Consequently in practice, a physician rarely finds a physician coach and there is dearth of physician coaches.
T2. Are there benefits/ risk to coaching healthcare professionals? Who benefits or who is at risks?
A coach is someone who tells you what you don’t want to hear, who has to see what you don’t want to see, so you can be who you have always known you could be
Tom Landry (NFL’s Dallas Cowboy’s winningest coach)
The benefits of coaching in other fields is almost unquestionable. In medicine particularly in surgery, outcomes are tied to masterful performance of a given skill set or techniques. I tell residents the P2R2- Plan , Practice, Review, Repeat and they have their mentors to follow this through. In physicians practice, critiquing performance is left to peers who often, defaults to self critiquing. We all knew how self bias works.
The bottom line of an improved performance is improving patient outcomes. Thus, while both the coach and coachee physician improve their performance, it’s the patient that ultimately reaps the benefits of a coaching relationship
T3. What are the traits of a coachable healthcare professionals?
Smart alecks are not coachable
Bill Campbell, Trillion Dollar Coach, coach to Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Steve Jobs, Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg
After med school and training, we physicians though we knew it all. I did. Until we notice that plateauing or worst, dipping practice performance. It takes humility and open mindedness to critique one’s own performance much more so, if the criticisms came from someone else. The flexibility to adapt to changing practice and patient’s needs are also necessary. In my case the active pursuit of a relatable coach that “clicks” with me is the hardest, especially in the competitive field of medicine and surgery. I’d like to change that, even at this stage of my career.
Join #HealthXPh chat this Saturday Oct 19, 2019 at 9PM Manila time for an interesting discussion on healthcare professional coaching. The following are our chat guide questions:
- T1. What are the barriers to coaching healthcare professionals?
- T2. Are there benefits/ risk to coaching healthcare professionals? Who benefits or who is at risks?
- T3. What are the traits of a coachable healthcare professionals?
Don’t forget to append #HealthXPh in all your tweets during the chat. See you all!
Image by David Mark from Pixabay
References:
- Dougherty, P & Joyce, B. (2018). The Orthopedic Educator: A Pocket Guide. 10.1007/978-3-319-62944-5.
- Schmidt, E., Rosenberg, J., & Eagle, A. (2019). Trillion dollar coach: The leadership playbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Campbell.
- Gawande A. Personal best: top athletes and singers have
coaches—should you? 2011. .The New Yorker 2011 issue.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/10/03/personal-best.
Accessed 18October 2019
