UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI’S “REINCARNATED” WORKSHOP FOR NEW CHAIRS OF DEPARTMENTS OF FAMILY MEDICINE

Steven Zweig; Ardis Davis; Jack Colwill; Michael Hosokawa

doi:10.1370/afm.1573

The Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Missouri (MU) hosted successful workshops in the 1990s for more than 25 family medicine department chairs and leaders in academic family medicine. In 2012 and again in 2013, we have conducted reincarnations of this workshop for 11 new chairs (7 in 2012 and 4 in 2013).

This program was conceived by Michael Hosokawa, EdD and Jack Colwill, MD in the 1990s as a way to help train the second generation of family medicine department chairs. They turned their idea into a successfully funded proposal under the Faculty Development series of HRSA-funded Title VII programs. First Jack Colwill then Hal Williamson led the New Chairs Workshop involving senior leaders from the Department of Family and Community Medicine at MU. Also vital to the success of the program was the partnership with the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine as Roger Sherwood, STFM Executive Director served as a consultant to each of those early sessions. Also key to the workshop’s success was another senior family medicine chair who participated as a consultant.

When this program was reborn in 2012, the Academic Departments of Family Medicine (ADFM) became the co-sponsor with MU Family and Community Medicine. Using a case-based approach, attendees bring to the workshop real world challenges they are facing. While attendees serve as the experts, MU faculty and a consultant from ADFM also facilitate. The faculty from MU include: Jack Colwill (former chair, former Interim Dean, and leader of past Chairs Workshops), Mike Hosokawa (former dean for curriculum and director of faculty development), Hal Williamson (former chair and president of ADFM, now Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs), Mike LeFevre (health system chief information medical officer, vice chair and clinical director), Steven Zweig (current MU department chair and Chair of ADFM Leadership Development Committee) and others.

Program Design Elements

This program is envisioned as an annual workshop aimed at a small group (ie 6 to 8) new chairs. The central feature of this program (just as it was carried out in the 1990s) is a consultative model whereby: (1) new chair attendees prepare a case as prework describing their challenge/problem; (2) the team at MU reviews the case description and brings together necessary resources with the other attendees and faculty; (3) the MU team identifies key people within the institution that the individual new chair chooses for one-on-one consultations learning more about specific issues which may be translatable to his or her own institution or department. While not all problems are solved, participants leave the workshop with a pathway forward and a comforting feeling that their problems are not unique to their environment. They also leave with new relationships that they can call on in the future to help provide advice, expertise, or counsel.

Evaluation from the past 2 workshops provides evidence that resurrecting this workshop is filling an important need. Comments from participants illustrate the critical value of this experience:

Every new chair would benefit from this. The group size was optimal.
An outstanding program. I think I benefited from every component, which is quite rare for any conference. The other chairs and the faculty were amazing-supportive, bright and motivated to solve problems on a ‘systems’ level.
An excellent program! I feel I know a number of my fellow new chairs in way that would not have been possible without this workshop. We’ve tackled some tough problems together, and we have a better understanding of the state of family medicine around the country.
Truly excellent overall...I’m not just saying it. Very well prepared, organized, and implemented. Very much appreciated.
This program was incredibly valuable to my development as a new chair! The wisdom and knowledge was greatly appreciated! Keep offering it!

The MU workshop is one of several elements of programming which we are offering in ADFM through our Leadership Development Committee. According to a survey of ADFM members last year, 38% of chairs have had the job for less than 3 years and 26% anticipate a change in leadership within the next 3 years. In addition to a systematic “welcoming” of new chairs into ADFM through the President, Executive Director and Secretary, our Leadership Development Committee oversees other programming aimed at new family medicine department chairs. These include workshops held at the AAMC meeting and in conjunction with the ADFM Winter meeting, our new chair advisor program, and our developing new chair’s toolbox.