‘Student Profile’ Articles at Executive MBA for Physicians Blog

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EMBA Alum Starts a Women Surgeons Webinar Series

Dr. Palma Shaw, a graduate of the Executive MBA for Physicians class of 2021, is a vascular and endovascular surgeon at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY. She also runs the vascular fellowship and teaches general surgical residents. Outside of her clinical and administrative duties, she participates in several regional, national, and international societies. Below Dr. Shaw shares about the webinars that she runs with the International Society of Endovascular Specialists (ISEVS), her time as a female vascular surgeon, and her experience as an EMBA physician.

Please tell me about the webinar you run. Who is it in collaboration with and how did you become involved?

I am on the Executive Council as Secretary for the International Society of Endovascular Specialists (ISEVS). I was asked to run a live webinar called CV Sisterhood in Surgery, which I co-host with Dr. Linda Le, a Vascular Surgeon at Houston Methodist Hospital. The webinars started in March 2020 on a monthly basis. We discuss a variety of topics, some medical and some practical. The webinars run from the DeBakey Studio, and I “Zoom in” as do most of the guests. I have also co-hosted ISEVS Critical Issues Series webinars, including one with Dr. Rania Preventza, EMBA’17. If an interesting topic comes up, I add a webinar about it. It has given me an opportunity to give a voice to my colleagues, especially women.

In the CV Sisterhood in Surgery Webinar, we have covered a variety of women’s issues, including:

COVID Impacts on Career, Pregnancy, and Family
Further Advanced Degrees for Female Surgeons
Fertility and Female Surgeons
Perspective of a Latina Vascular Surgeon
Single Motherhood as a Surgeon
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Vascular Surgery

Topics I have brought to the Critical Issues webinar include:

Limb Salvage During a Pandemic
Women in Global Cardiovascular Care
Women in Aortic Surgery
CEO Perspectives on Healthcare and Industry

Where can we find your webinar?

If you search “CV Sisterhood DeBakey” on Google or another ssearch engine, you will be able to find them. They are also available at https://www.isevs.org.

You have talked about being a female surgeon in a male dominated subspecialty. Tell me more about what that has been like and how you have overcome barriers in your field.

My challenges have served as food for discussion in the webinars. I am not only a female in the field of Vascular Surgery (approximately 14% of board-certified vascular surgeons are women), but also a single mother raising children on my own. Fortunately, I have a supportive family. One of the challenges was the lack of female role models. Often, advantages were given to men over women. We have had to work so much harder to move up the ladder. Even now, we struggle to become investigators on clinical trials and receive invitations as speakers for major vascular meetings. Women often get pushed into the venous and wound care fields, as men covet the aortic field. Things are changing slowly.

How has your time in the EMBA influenced your work on this webinar and as a surgeon?

The EMBA has been amazing for my career and this webinar. As we moved through the courses, I was able to apply the teaching immediately in my daily life. Dr. Jon Chilingerian’s Social Networking Project improved my relationships with my co-workers. Dr. Brad Morrison’s Operations Management Assignment helped me gain a better understanding about how the endovascular suite conducted operations and ordering of product. It helped my relationship with my colleagues at Upstate, as they felt invested in my EMBA and were excited that I would better understand their role. I used Dr. Brenda Anderson’s Capital Budget Project to learn about a hybrid room construction that is underway now at Upstate. It allowed me to connect with the people in charge of this renovation and understand more about what was happening in our practice.

The EMBA gave me the confidence to hold webinars on certain topics. I received limited support from my institution for all that I have done, but I felt very supported by my EMBA learning group and by the other classmates and faculty. For example, I would never have had the confidence to interview a CEO for a webinar without having done the EMBA. My recent webinar on June 21 was inspired by Dr. Chilingerian’s Everest Simulation. I got the CEO speaker for this webinar to agree to participate by using what Dr. Chilingerian taught me—Go to A to get to B. The title is: “Climbing Mount Everest and Reaching the Peak in Vascular Surgery: One Woman’s Journey.” I also recently gave a talk called “How to Build a TEAM” for the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion program for the Eastern Vascular Society. All of the content was derived from my EMBA experience.

What would you want female physicians who are considering an MBA to know?

The EMBA is an excellent opportunity for women in medicine. It helps give us more credibility and an understanding of how the c-suite works. The exchange of ideas from the other classmates is very eye opening. Having such accomplished colleagues believe in and admire you is important. Many women are working in jobs where they are held back and made to feel like they do not have what it takes, all while their male colleagues get promoted with fewer qualifications.

I would highly recommend the EMBA at Brandeis to any of my colleagues. It is a transformative experience.

Welcoming the Class of 2022 and Adapting to a Virtual World

February 17, 2021 / cmattox / 1 Comment

In early January, 32 members of the Executive MBA for Physicians class of 2022 kicked off their 16-month journey with a 10-day virtual orientation and residency experience.

The physicians:

Come from 14 states, Germany, and Saudi Arabia;
Represent 11 specialties, including emergency medicine, internal medicine, urology, and numerous surgical subspecialties;
Are 38% women and 40% US students of color (as % of US);
Have an average age of 48 and an average of over 15 years of post-residency work experience.

The physicians began Thursday afternoon with a series of orientation sessions to introduce them to the program and each other and to prepare them for the work ahead. The program director, Dr. Jon Chilingerian, led them in a leadership case study discussion to anchor them in the types of material and delivery formats they can expect in the EMBA. Students then had the chance to literally get moving and get to know one another through activities with an improv instructor. The focus of “taking care of your partner” tied back both to their daily work as well as to the group work they will be doing through the program with fellow students. That night, students participated in a virtual mixer where they broke up into small groups and continued networking. In the morning, students completed a simulation and worked with a media specialist to learn about communication during times of crisis.

Friday afternoon marked the end of orientation and the beginning of the first semester classes. The program curriculum focuses on core business concepts in the first semester with Financial Accounting, Economics, Operations Management, and Leadership and Organizational Behavior. Students also participated in guided refection with professional and peer coaches while reviewing the results of a 360 degree leadership assessment that they completed prior to the start of the program.

The 10 days wound down with some more social activities. Students had a chance to interact with members of the EMBA class of 2021, who were in their third semester residency. They met in small groups to learn who else is in this growing network of physicians and heard the perspectives of experienced students. The session closed with an intimate dinner with the Program Director. Students enjoyed a catered meal, which the program sent to each individual, and used the time to further bond as a cohort.

While all of these sessions would normally be held in person, the program adapted them to be delivered virtually due to COVID restrictions. To do so, even more emphasis than usual was placed on varying teaching methods, including simulations and guided group work. Also, to address the potential of screen fatigue, the schedule included multiple free blocks so that students could step away from Zoom and focus on review and preparation for upcoming sessions.

Now that the 10-day session has concluded, students have returned to their daily working lives and will continue the program through the synchronous webinar portion of the semester with class sessions one evening a week and every other Saturday. This residency was a unique occurrence, but it was a successful 10 days filled with learning and connections. The program team is excited to welcome the class of 2022 in person as soon as circumstances allow.

EMBA Alum Discusses Her Advocacy Work

November 4, 2020 / cmattox / 0 Comments

Below is an interview with Dr. Shaneeta Johnson, a member of the EMBA for Physicians Class of 2020 who advocates for many issues both personally and in her role as a senior fellow at the Satcher Health Leadership Institute.

Please tell us about your role. What are you responsible for?

I am an associate professor in surgery and program director for the general surgery residency program at Morehouse School of Medicine. Additionally, I am a senior fellow in the Satcher Health Leadership Institute (SHLI) with a focus on global health equity. SHLI was founded by Dr. David Satcher, the 16th US Surgeon General, to make an impact in the field of healthcare and health equity. In my roles, I am responsible for training surgeons and preparing them for delivering surgical care to the community. Also, I work along with SHLI to improve health equity for the community.

Please tell us about your advocacy.

There are several areas in which I have been focused on advocating for the rights of the underserved. These include advocating for Georgians to have access to obesity treatment, working to illuminate health disparities, and elucidating the causes and possible ways to correct the disparate effects of COVID-19 on the underrepresented and underserved communities.

Through work with the Satcher Health Leadership Institute, I have addressed the Pennsylvania Senate on the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on African-Americans and work towards implementing an action protocol to impact this community and eliminate these disparities. I’ve also had the opportunity to address the CMS Administrator and State Senatorial leadership along with other healthcare leaders regarding the impact of COVID-19 on our communities and healthcare systems. Additionally, with a few colleagues, I published a call to action and opinion editorial in The Lancet regarding the impact of race and obesity on the mobility and mortality of COVID-19. It is a call to action for our community to save lives.

Regarding obesity healthcare coverage, I have testified to the Georgia House of Representatives on the impact of obesity on our community and the need for state coverage of bariatric surgery and obesity care. To that end, through work with the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgeons, Georgia Chapter, February 4 was declared Obesity Care Day in Georgia!

What would you want physicians to know who may be interested in getting involved politically?

Many of the policies that will affect our healthcare for generations to come need the voice of physicians who are practicing on the front lines. It is imperative that we are involved with policymaking and advising those who are seeking to implement policies that will impact the communities we serve. I encourage you to speak with your government leaders and advocate ardently for your patients and community.

How has the EMBA for Physicians program (and any specific skills and tools you learned) helped you at work or in your legislative work?

I have learned immensely from the EMBA for Physicians program. The greater understanding of national and state health policy, organizational management, strategic management, and all of the other classes have strengthened my drive to make a difference in the community but also improved my skills so that I may be more effective in my professional roles. I continue to work with my professors for advice and collaboration.

Is there anything else you would like to add that we have not covered here?

I am thankful to the EMBA program for the skills that it has imparted to me and look forward to further developing the skills to make a greater i

EMBA Alum Discusses His Role as CMO in an HCA Hospital

October 6, 2020 / cmattox / 0 Comments

Below is an interview with Dr. Bill Killinger, CMO of a major hospital in Florida and Class of 2020 Executive MBA graduate.

Please tell us about your role. What are you responsible for?

I am the Chief Medical Officer for a large HCA hospital in Florida. It’s a great job. As CMO, I have numerous responsibilities. I am first and foremost in charge of patient safety and the quality of care delivered in my hospital. HCA makes patient safety a priority; we use over 30 dashboards to track process improvement and ensure quality. I am also accountable for driving satisfaction in three arenas: with patients, physicians, and employees. Ensuring high levels of satisfaction in all three areas is critical to achieving our mission. The CMO has significant operational oversight for the emergency rooms and procedural areas and with overall hospital operational efficiency in terms of length of stay. As part of the executive team, I am heavily involved in financial planning and growth, and I work directly with the CEO and COO on new program development, marketing, and strategic planning. Finally, as the senior clinician, I help explain clinical matters to the Board of Trustees. I wear a lot of hats. Every day is a different challenge!

How has your work changed as a result of COVID-19?

I had been in my role as CMO for 4 months when COVID hit. I was just really learning the operations and getting to know the medical staff. Almost overnight, the world changed. We were very cognizant of the situations in Italy and in New York City. We were not sure how hard we would be hit here in our area. I was communicating with county emergency leaders almost daily and reached out to the CMOs at our competing hospital to form county-wide contingency plans. My hospital held emergency administrative meetings 7 days a week, sometimes multiple times during a day as we managed PPE, ventilator, and ICU bed shortages and scrambled to fill staffing shortfalls. It was wild. I had to organize hospital triage committees and action plans to prepare for the unthinkable prospect of an overwhelming influx of critically ill patients. We spent a lot of time with the ethics committee to ensure our triage plan was equitable in the event we were faced with a situation like in Bergamo, Italy.

We also operate a freestanding Behavioral Health hospital, which presents several unique challenges. We had to develop an entirely different strategy to keep that vulnerable population safe. Early on, we implemented universal admission testing and employee masking- well before it was recommended. Our strategy has been effective. We have had no patient deaths or serious illnesses in that hospital so far.

What have been the differences between your experience at a nonprofit and a for-profit healthcare organization?

I was initially concerned about the transition from the not-for-profit world to the corporate world. I can honestly say it has been great. We have four care standards which are central to everything we do. In order, they are safety, hospitality, empathy, and efficiency. We take these very seriously and consider every decision first in terms of the care standards. They are the core of who we are and what we do. Patient safety is always first. Notice that efficiency is last; it’s very important but never trumps the other three standards. I actually have more safety resources here than I had in my previous institution.

How has the EMBA for Physicians program (and any specific skills and tools you learned) helped you in your CMO role? In your response to COVID-19?

The EMBA has been helpful in so many ways. The strong focus on organizational leadership was crucial. Leadership is a skill, and I learned a tremendous amount from the faculty. I had zero background in finance, and the accounting and corporate finance courses have proven to be invaluable. This I think is the key advantage of the MBA over an MHA; I understand and can actively participate in the budgeting and strategic planning for my hospital in a way I could have never done without the Brandeis program. The courses were tough but are paying big dividends (corporate finance pun!). There were so many other important courses – healthcare law and ethics, marketing, state health policy – I use the learnings from the EMBA every day. Putting together the team consulting project gave me confidence I could navigate a complex project through to completion. The physician field experience sessions, especially the media relations seminars, were especially valuable to me. I’ve found myself unexpectedly in front of the camera or microphone several times in the last six months, and that training was worth its weight in gold.

My classmates were some of the most impressive people I’ve met. I have reached out to them on many occasions since graduation for advice. It’s a tremendous honor to be a member of this network. I would recommend this EMBA program to anyone. You will work really hard, but the faculty is great, your classmates are great, and if you put in the effort, you can do it. It’s among the best decisions I’ve made.

EMBA Alum Discusses His Experience as a Pulmonologist in New York City during the Pandemic

September 8, 2020 / cmattox / 0 Comments

Dr. Samaan Rafeq, a member of the EMBA class of 2020 and a New York City interventional pulmonologist, sat down with us with to recount his story of working on the front-lines in Manhattan during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Rafeq is also Fellowship Director and Associate Chief of the Interventional Pulmonary Section at NYU Langone Health, where he is responsible for day-to-day operations of the section. Below, Dr. Rafeq describes what it was like early on in the pandemic, what he has learned in case of a second surge, and how the EMBA prepared him to respond to this crisis.

How did your work as a pulmonologist change because of COVID-19?

It changed dramatically. We had to essentially stop all normal operations, including ambulatory care and elective surgeries and procedures, and focus all the attention on caring for critically ill patients that were coming into the intensive care unit with COVID-19. During that time, I was part of the airway team that performed airway procedures on ICU patients, including bronchoscopies and percutaneous tracheostomies. It was a constant flow of patients for six to eight weeks, day in and day out. Those procedures are part of what we are trained to do, but you do not expect that that would become the only thing that you do in your daily practice for that extended period of time.

What was it like working on the front line in one of the first pandemic hotspots?

It was surreal. It was a mix of emotions all at once. At first, it was as if you’re watching a sci-fi movie or something that you’ve read about in history, but not something that you would expect to be faced with during your lifetime. There was a feeling of fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. There was also a sense of responsibility, and pride, as a physician helping people as much as possible.

Now that New York City is more under control, what is happening on the ground?

We are back to regular operations. Our ambulatory volume has returned to where it was pre-pandemic, which is great. I think we’re close to that level for procedures and surgeries, both on the inpatient and outpatient side. Obviously there are extra measures that are in place to ensure everyone’s safety, such as testing patients, ensuring adequate distancing within our practices, and following proper safety measures with PPE for both administrative and clinical staff.

How are you and NYC hospitals better prepared for a potential second surge?

We learned a lot from what we experienced in the height of the initial wave of the pandemic. We know much more about the disease itself and its management, including ventilation and non-invasive ventilation, thromboembolic complications, and post-ICU care. There is certainly a much better understanding medically and clinically about what we’re dealing with.

We also are better prepared to handle resource management. We’ve come to understand what is necessary to care for COVID-19 patients, so we can allocate resources better, whether that’s equipment or human resources with administrative staff and clinical staff. If there is another surge, then we know, for example, what it takes to get an ICU up and running including equipment, supplies, and human resources.

How has the EMBA program prepared you to respond to this crisis?

I thought initially that the MBA would improve my understanding of the administrative and operative parts of healthcare management, but it also made me a better clinician. I keep going back to the skills I had learned during my MBA degree – operations management, leadership, strategy. It’s amazing that when you start to put the pieces together, how everything becomes relevant to what you see on a daily basis.

What else do you want other physicians to know?

Medicine, as a clinical practice, and management are intertwined. Learning the aspects of healthcare management makes you a better clinician. At the same time, being a clinician and understanding what goes into healthcare management, makes you a better administrator, manager, and leader in your respective healthcare organization. There’s certainly an important role for physician leaders and physician executives to play in the future, not only with this pandemic but also with the healthcare system in general. I think the more people who acquire this knowledge, the better off we will be as a healthcare system and as a society. Applying what I have learned in this EMBA program in the real world has been very satisfying and rewarding.

EMBA Alum Reflects on Her Associate CMO Role in a Psychiatric Hospital during COVID-19

July 31, 2020 / cmattox / 0 Comments

Dr. Susan Szulewski, member of the Class of 2020, recently transitioned into a brand new Associate Chief Medical Officer role at McLean Hospital. She has also kept her previous role as Medical Director of the Clinical Evaluation Center. She is an instructor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and trains psychiatry residents, psychology interns, and medical students. Below, she discusses her new role, how the EMBA has helped her, and the implications of COVID-19 both in psychiatric hospitals and on provider mental health.

Please tell us about your new role. What are you responsible for?

Since my Associate CMO position at McLean Hospital is the first of its kind there, I had a unique and exciting opportunity to help shape some of the responsibilities. The highlight of my role is being able to partner with the 500+ credentialed medical staff to ensure high quality, evidence-based care. When I thought about the vision for this role, I wanted to keep the focus on enhancing our unique diagnosis-based care models in behavioral health and fostering that further by providing strategic direction to the physician functions. It is exciting to think of the possibilities!

Some of the routine responsibilities include working closely with the Chief Medical Officer, oversight of the hospital’s clinical service budgets, recruiting and training physicians, provider performance evaluations and metrics, clinical process improvement, physician wellbeing initiatives, as well as ensuring that all staff adhere to safety standards while delivering the highest quality of medical care. The work often involves a mixture of tasks ensuring compliance with state health policy guidelines, regulatory requirements, and utilization management. As Medical Director of the Clinical Evaluation Center, I oversee psychiatric admissions for our nine inpatient units by collaborating broadly with the Mass General Brigham (MGB) network and community emergency departments.

How has the EMBA for Physicians program helped you in your new role?

The Brandeis program provided me with the tools I need to be nimble at my job each day. My role has a daily intersection of business, strategy, quality efforts, and clinical care. The curriculum exposed me to a wide range of these topics, and I am often referencing back to things I learned during classes or pulling out notes that I had taken during lectures. Despite beginning my new role during a time of crisis, I felt confident and prepared to take on challenges. I attribute this ability to the real-world applicability of the physician-focused EMBA where core concepts are taught with instruction on implementation and execution.

Has your work changed during the response to COVID-19? If so, how?

I was involved with and led a wide range of urgent change initiatives across the institution that were brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to maintain continuity of care, we had to adopt numerous changes in a very short amount of time. Our outpatient and partial hospital levels of care transitioned to a virtual care model at a record-breaking speed. These changes required training staff to perform work in an unprecedented way for behavioral health, while ensuring all proper regulatory and privacy requirements were met. In parallel, our inpatient services learned and adopted increased infection control abilities, such as the creation of isolation rooms, proper instruction on personal protective equipment use, pre-admission testing, and protocols of how to safely maintain a COVID-19 positive patient in a freestanding psychiatric facility.

How has the program influenced the way you have responded to COVID-19?

A theme that ran through much of the EMBA course study was the importance of being a present leader. Effective, transparent communication is essential in managing a crisis. Early in the pandemic things changed on a daily basis, so it was especially important for providers to be made aware of steps and actions being taken by their leadership team to remedy issues and maintain safety.

What trends have you seen at McLean Hospital during the pandemic?

In behavioral health, we initially experienced a drastic decrease in patients seeking treatment but this started to change approximately two weeks after the peak surge in Massachusetts, resulting in a secondary mental health surge. Our inpatient psychiatric beds across the MGB system have been filled at a 99% capacity. One benefit is that the surge forced us to work in close collaboration with internal and external facilities on daily capacity and to look at all patients waiting in emergency departments and match them to appropriate open beds across the state. This need for system integration has markedly reduced the wait times for patients seeking psychiatric treatment as well as ensuring appropriate placement based on medical needs.

Many people are aware of the pandemic’s impact on mental health in the general public. What do you think the on-going mental health ramifications will be for healthcare providers?

Healthcare provider wellness and resiliency needs to be a top priority. We know that frontline providers are experiencing higher rates of depression, anxiety, and substance use but often with a higher reluctance to seek care versus the general population. This has an even larger impact when combined with the increase in home stressors of schools closing, fear of contaminating loved ones, and guilt associated with greater patient deaths. This highlights the need for mental health programs that are specifically focused on healthcare provider burnout and proactive plans for wellness beyond traditional programs. There is a lot of opportunity to provide a stronger safety net to support that culture for caregivers. This difficult moment in time offers the opportunity to advance our understanding of how to provide prevention-focused, population-level psychological first aid and mental health care and to emerge from this experience with new ways of doing so.

EMBA Alum Transitions into Insurance Industry

March 4, 2020 / cmattox / 0 Comments

Dr. Kate McIntosh was a member of the class of 2019 and is the Senior Medical Director and the Director of Quality for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont (BCBSVT). She transitioned from private practice as a pediatrician and Chief of Pediatrics at her local hospital to this role during the last semester of the Executive MBA for Physicians program. Below, Dr. McIntosh tells us more about her new role, moving into the insurance industry, and how her MBA degree has helped her in this journey.

Please tell us about your new roll. What are you responsible for?

I am the Senior Medical Director and the Director of Quality for BCBSVT. BCBSVT is one of the smallest of the independent health plans of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Working for a health plan as a physician can take many forms, and one of the advantages of working for a small health plan is that I get to do a large variety of things which might be done by separate people at a larger plan.

I am one of only two physicians employed by the plan. Dr. Joshua Plavin, the CMO, is also an alumnus from the Brandeis Executive MBA program; he graduated in 2017. The two of us are the voice of the physician within the organization. Whereas Dr. Plavin’s role is more external and strategic, mine is more internal and operational.

As Senior Medical Director, I am responsible for medical policy, coding, and supporting all of the internal departments of BCBSVT by lending a physician perspective. As part of this, I support the utilization management nurses and the appeals team and coordinate a team of contracted physicians who do medical reviews. The speed at which medicine is changing seems to be ever-accelerating, and it’s an ongoing challenge to keep up with the latest changes in technology and pharmacology.

As part of my work as the Director of Quality, I oversee our HEDIS measures, our NCQA reporting, our internal quality initiatives, and the metrics and reporting for the quality and value-based projects with our local ACO, regional hospital networks, and other provider groups. I also work closely with the quality nurse and provider contracting to review patient complaints and to provide feedback to hospitals and providers throughout Vermont. I also work with the Fraud, Waste, and Abuse department to look for red flags or concerning behaviors. Fraud is a growing area of concern in health care, estimated to cost the United States up to $68 billion annually.

What did you do before this new role?

Before I started at BCBSVT, I ran my own practice for 16 years and was the medical director for the Vermont Health Information Exchange. I was also Chief of Pediatrics at my hospital and sat on its board of directors. Coming to a health plan from owning and running a practice has allowed me to bring a useful and less common perspective about the business of medicine to the organization and to the conversation about health care in Vermont as a whole.

Why did you want to transition into the insurance industry?

I never thought that I would work for a health plan. After 22 years of practice, I wanted to do something different. Running a practice had shown me that I really liked administrative work, and I wanted to do something that let me use my administrative skills. I would not have come to BCBSVT if it hadn’t been for Dr. Plavin, who was instrumental in encouraging me to enter the Brandeis program and also in bringing me to BCBSVT. I started at BCBSVT as a contractor doing medical reviews, but quickly found that the type of systems thinking required was a good fit for me. When the Senior Medical Director position opened, I knew that I wanted to apply for it. The Director of Quality was added later as part of a divisional reorganization but has made tremendous sense for the organization as a whole and has made my position even more interesting and rewarding.

Did pursuing the EMBA for Physicians impact your ability to get this new role? If so, how?

I think that it is fair to say that I would never have gotten this position without the EMBA program at Brandeis. Dr. Chilingerian’s teaching especially was instrumental in allowing me to enter the company as a contractor and quickly to be able to understand the needs of the organization and how best to meet them. This was a significant culture shift from where I had been before and a completely different type of organization. I think that the EMBA program helped me make the rapid pivot that was necessary to get this new role.

How has the EMBA for Physicians program helped you in your new role and which skills and tools from the EMBA program have you been using the most?

Every class that I took in the EMBA program has helped me in my new role. This new position sits at the intersection of business, health care, health reform, and politics. In addition, I use the tools we learned for strategy, finance, quality, ethics, and operations management on a daily basis. The courses have been critical to navigating the complex world of value, where quality and cost intersect. Dr. Plavin and I are both interested in encouraging providers to push forward innovative value-based projects and health reform initiatives, and we have to sell these both internally and externally, not only to health care leaders, but also to multiple stakeholders, including politicians, actuaries, and executives. In addition, I am working to optimize many of our internal processes which often involves all the diverse change management and communication tools that we learned or touched on in school, especially when working with teams from multiple departments and with multiple skill sets and priorities. The white board in my office is often a mess of flow charts and operational diagrams. Dr. Morrison would be amused!

Welcoming the Class of 2021 and an In-depth Look at the First Residency

February 5, 2020 / cmattox / 0 Comments

This past January, the EMBA class of 2021 joined us for their first 10-day on-site residency session. This cohort includes 31 physicians, all eager to learn about the new science of medicine and management. The physicians:

Come from 15 states, along with Armenia and the United Arab Emirates;
Represent 14 specialties, including anesthesiology, obstetrics and gynecology, otolaryngology, and numerous surgical subspecialties;
Are 45% women and 30% US students of color;
Have an average age of 49 and an average of over 16 years of post-residency work experience.

During their first 10 day in-person residency session, the class of 2021 participated in EMBA orientation, attended sessions of their first semester courses, and networked with the class of 2020.

The physicians began preparing for the EMBA program in December by attending a live orientation webinar that walked them through the program and what to expect during the January residency. They also started to review course materials and completed a 360 degree leadership assessment to be reviewed during residency with the support of executive and peer coaches.

The first few residency sessions oriented students and helped build bonds among the cohort. Those sessions included a “Masterclass in Human Creativity” where students learned how to apply improvisational techniques to their professional work as well as their experience in the program. Students also took part in a session to learn more about the case method, which is the basis for many of the EMBA courses. The information gained and relationships built during these orientation sessions are important to set the tone of residency and help the class continue to work well together during the remote periods of the program.

After a few days of adapting to the program and each other, the physicians began their academic classes. The curriculum gives students a base of knowledge in the first semester, so students start with Economics, Financial Accounting, Leadership and Organizational Behavior, and Operations Management. These classes are necessary so other classes later in the curriculum, such as Corporate Finance, Management of Healthcare Organizations, and Systems Thinking, can build off of their fundamental concepts.

Toward the end of residency, the class of 2021 participated in an evening mixer with the class of 2020, who are in their third of four semesters. Dean David Weil welcomed the new students and took the opportunity to meet the EMBA physicians in person. Participants connected throughout the room. Students developed new contacts across cohorts, and some were even delighted to find old colleagues in the other cohorts as well. There was a true networking atmosphere that the students will continue to leverage throughout the program and beyond.

EMBA Student gains new promotion in major merger

January 8, 2020 / cmattox / 0 Comments

Dr. Kim Ariyabuddhiphongs, a member of the EMBA class of 2020 and a Massachusetts internist, was promoted to Associate Chief Medical Officer for the Beth Israel Lahey Health Performance Network during the recent merger between Beth Israel Deaconess and Lahey Health systems. Below, Dr. Ariyabuddhiphongs talks more about her new role, the promotion process, what it is like to work at an organization during a merger, and how pursuing an EMBA has helped her along the way.

Please tell us about your new role. What are you responsible for? I recently transitioned into being the Associate Chief Medical Officer for the Beth Israel Lahey Health Performance Network. In my role, I work with key stakeholder groups in advancing our goals to improve quality and increase efficiency. Our priorities in 2020 are to improve quality measure performance in cancer screening and diabetes process and outcomes in the ambulatory setting. In the hospital setting, we are working with our network hospitals to improve Hospital Quality Measure performance. We are also looking closely at improving efficiency for our Medicare ACO and have identified targets and programs we will launch in early 2020. I lead focused programs and initiatives and also act as a coach to facilitate success in Population Health.

What role were you promoted from? What are the differences in responsibilities? I was previously Medical Director of BIDCO, the ACO of the legacy Beth Israel Deaconess system. My prior role had a broad range but not as much depth. My new role, to a certain extent, is narrower and more focused as I’m working with fewer groups. I’m relishing the opportunity to work more closely with key leadership at the organizations within the larger system.

Tell us about the process you went through to get the promotion. I had already been doing a very similar role previously for 1.5 years and had worked at Beth Israel Deaconess for more than 12 years. I have the advantage of having worked in this system, knowing the culture, knowing how to execute within our system, and having worked with leadership from my previous role as medical director at one of the large primary care practices. It was a natural move for me to now work closely with the Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Clinical Officer.

I know your organization has been undergoing a major merger. What has it been like to be in a position of leadership while significant changes have been happening? I think you can’t know what it’s like to go through a merger without having experienced one yourself. There has been a lot of transformation in our Population Health team. While there can be uncertainty, I try to maintain calm and optimism for what is ahead. Working with a larger health system gives us opportunities to question the status quo, transform and land on a new way of operating. While change can be hard, we can take a fresh look at challenges and develop a new path.

Did pursuing the EMBA for Physicians impact your ability to achieve this promotion? If so, how? The EMBA has stimulated my growth in many ways. It’s fantastic to study amongst colleagues who also want to contribute in a different way beyond direct clinical care and are interested in leadership, health care policy, strategy, and health care finance. That in and of itself is an inspiration. I have learned so much about leadership styles from the professors and my classmates. The EMBA has been so valuable not only in gaining concrete knowledge but also in giving me confidence.

How has the EMBA for Physicians program helped you in your new role? I love reading the leadership and strategy articles and cases, amongst others, and almost all of them have given me a pearl I can apply the very next day in interacting with others in my new role.

EMBA Alum advocates at State House

November 6, 2019 / cmattox / 0 Comments

Dr. Heidi Larson, an alumna of the class of 2017, a Maine family physician, and a primary care consultant, recently shared how she has gotten more involved in state politics as a result of her time in the Executive MBA for Physicians program. She has been focused on addressing the opioid crisis, funding the Maine Diversion Alert Program, and working on the Death with Dignity Act. The latter, which allows terminally ill patients to make their own end of life decisions, was signed into law in June of this year. Below, Dr. Larson explains what it is like to get involved in the legislative process as a physician and why it is important.

How did you get involved with these particular issues?

While I was an EMBA student, I took State Health Policy with Dr. Michael Doonan. As part of his class, I wrote an op ed, reached out to state lawmakers, and prepared and presented a mock legislative testimony. I became passionate about these topics while researching these projects.

Have you testified? Please tell us more about the process of preparing testimony and actually speaking on the floor. What about the larger process of advocating for and get a bill passed?

Yes, I testified as part of my class project assignment. I went to the legislature with my colleagues and each of us presented a slightly different spin on why we supported the Death with Dignity Act. This was in 2017; it took a change in administration in our great State to get this passed!

My testimony in support of funding for the Maine Diversion Alert Program was in writing, so I did not attend a hearing. The grant money ran out, so we asked for $50,000 to continue to provide primary care doctors access to criminal records related to prescription drug abuse. We were successful.

I was able to use the process we were taught in the program, including using brief talking points and quick sound bites. There is power in numbers, so I recommend getting colleagues to help you. We lobbied Senator Susan Collins very hard to expand Medicaid under the ACA. We formed a group, Maine Providers Standing Up for Healthcare, and met with her personally on several occasions.

Why is it important for physicians to be part of the legislative process?

It is our civic responsibility. We must advocate for our communities and our patients. We have credibility, and we have the smarts and can organize. It is part of giving back.

How has the EMBA for Physicians program helped you in this journey?

The State Health Policy class was instrumental in helping me find my voice. I learned to be succinct and ORGANIZE. Having to present my mock testimony to the class in 7 minutes or less was daunting but a very valuable experience!

How has it otherwise helped you professionally or personally?

I work to support organizations in building strong foundations in primary care as a way to serve our communities more effectively and set ourselves up for success in value-based payment models (like Medicare Advantage). I would not have been able to do this work without assimilating all the knowledge, experience, and collegial support I gained from this MBA program.

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