AUPN's Leadership Minute

One of the hardest jobs as a leader is to manage challenging faculty who may not be the greatest team player, who act unprofessionally with colleagues, patients or trainees or who are unreliable in performing their duties.  In this podcast, we review some suggestions to prevent, improve or limit such unwanted behaviors.  The first step is to not model being sour apple yourself!

Leading a department is highly dependent on its context, small departments pose specific challenges. This episode provides insights and tips to leading successfully a small department

Dr. Joseph Berger explores the significance of drug infusion centers in modern healthcare. He discusses how these centers enhance patient care by providing efficient, cost-effective treatment options for various medical conditions.​

Every Neurologist can have a role in advocating for their patients and peers.  This AUPN Leadership minute describes the Advocacy efforts of the American Academy of Neurology and describes the many ways that neurologists can be involved in the process, both at the local and Federal level.

Master the art of AI prompting and unlock the hidden potential of this revolutionary technology to accelerate your work.

Leaders often have to complete multiple tasks in a short period of time. This episode provides strategies and tips to improve your multitasking skills while maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

The notion of brain health draws attention to the burden of brain disease; the fact that nearly half of brain disease is preventable; and that brain health can be improved through healthy diet, exercise and control of blood pressure, among other measures. Research opportunities in brain health are growing, including from the American Heart Association.

This podcast will provide suggestions that may help departments support education and research. The ability to fund these activities varies and is institutional specific. Examples of funding sources will be discussed.

Explore the critical steps to securing a chair position and negotiating your ideal package. From conducting thorough research to knowing your bottom line, this episode equips you with the tools to advance your career confidently.

Simulation-based medical education holds deep roots in clinical neurology.  In this Leadership Minute, Dr. Nicholas Morris details the history of simulation in neurology, describes the current state including barriers, and presents a vision for the future.

Being a Neurology department chair can be a wonderful experience, but is also filled with challenges, obstacles and struggles. This podcast will explore the pros, cons, joys and tribulations of being a chair, hopefully setting new or prospective chairs up for success.

In this leadership minute, we discuss the importance of, and strategies for, getting along with other chairs, including neurology chairs nationally and chairs from other specialties at your own institution. Advantages of this teamwork approach are detailed, focusing on benefits to your leadership and your department.

This session will delve into essential strategies for crafting a robust budget, tailored to the unique needs and constraints of various departments. Specific examples will be explored to demonstrate how different departments can optimize their financial planning. Regardless of department size, practical knowledge will be provided to refine the budgeting process and drive financial success within any team.

Graduate Medical Education (GME) funding often falls short of what is essential and/or optimal in neurology education, affecting trainees, program leadership and educators. This podcast will explore approaches to “stopping the squeeze”, allowing us to continue to enhance educational efforts, support our next wave of neurologists and clinical neuroscientists, and mitigate burnout and dropout.

The VA provides a wide range of research opportunities including basic sciences, clinical trials, epidemiology, and health services research. Unique to VA research are VA-specific funding mechanisms, centralized research infrastructures, the Million Veteran Program, the largest national clinical database, and others.

This podcast explores ways in which the Veterans Health Administration, or VA, offers excellent opportunities for career development and advancement.

Access to care for patients with neurological disorders is extremely limited. What can academic departments do to improve access to care for neurology patients? This leadership minute discuss ways to address the neurology access problem through: Inspiration Incentivization  Innovation

The potential amount of obligations for any leader in an organization is infinite. There is no perfect method for how to “protect” yourself to be able to do the best job possible in all things required of you. Key points: prioritize by: What is strategically important for your role? What is important to you personally? What is important to success of your team and cannot be delegated? Important take-away: Be honest to yourself and others.

This leadership minute will provide an overview of how the U.S. Graduate Medical Education funding model works, including discussion of possible mechanisms to increase funding lines in your program.

K Awardees are in an exciting and pivotal period in their careers, building technical, communication, and mentoring skills to lead their own research teams. This period is also one of great vulnerability, with competing demands in their lives as scientists, clinicians, and teachers, as well as in their personal lives. The support of departmental leaders and faculty mentors is absolutely critical in helping K awardees navigate these potential barriers to develop their own creative and high-impact research program.

There is a significant shortage of neurologists in the United States.  Much of the potential neurology workforce is non-US international medical graduates who have limitations based on the rules of the J-1 visa program.  Understanding how to use the waiver system can be beneficial in improving recruitment of neurologists.

As leaders in neurology, it is vital for our health care system to recruit and to retain and diverse workforce. Institutional advocacy for international medical graduates (IMGs) can improve retention efforts for a department both for patient care as well as for growth into global and diversified research networks. In this episode, we will discuss the pathway for an IMG to train and work in the US and some of the issues that it is important to know about to help promote the career success and satisfaction of international physicians.

While faculty recruitment is always an important job for department leadership, retaining high-performing faculty may have a greater impact over time. This Leadership Minute discusses some strategies to optimize faculty retention in an increasing competitive environment for neurologists.

Measurement of clinical performance, driven by the requirements of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, accrediting bodies like The Joint Commission, and benchmarking companies like Vizient, is ubiquitous in academic neurology. Forward-thinking department chairs have an opportunity to design and implement highly effective, sustainable quality improvement programs by emphasizing faculty training, recognition, and collaboration.

Therapy development in Neurology is accelerated by strong partnerships between academia, industry and government. Academic/industry fellowships can increase the number of neurologists trained in clinical trials and therapy development. HEALEY ALS Platform trial is one example of successful academic/industry partnership.

Clinical research has been integral to medical progress since the time of Hippocrates; without it, laboratory discoveries would never translate into human therapies.  However, in contrast to basic science research (which has a clear career path undergirded by prestigious federal support), the keys to building a successful clinical research enterprise often seem shrouded in mystery to many department chairs and their senior leaders.  In this summary, we outline the hidden strategies for building successful and fiscally sound clinical research. 

A major challenge in academic neurology departments is supporting basic and translational research.  As clinical revenue becomes increasingly important to the financial health of Neurology Departments, supporting non-clinical activities such as teaching and research has become increasingly difficult. This is especially problematic for physician scientists, many of which require several years of both salary and research support. So how can you build research in your Department?

Understanding the relationship between the recruitment and retention of faculty is vital to the growth and success of every Department of Neurology. The well documented shortage of Neurologists in the US makes having an effective program essential. 

Dr. Silver's research has demonstrated a disconnect with women disproportionately conducting and disseminating pay equity research and men in leadership positions making most of the compensation decisions. Furthermore, it is misguided to think that achieving pay equity alone is enough when in fact this is necessary but not sufficient, because we must simultaneously ensure promotion equity as well as a psychologically safe workplace that supports wellness—accomplishing these 3 things at once is similar to the “Triple Aim” in valued based clinical care.

Over the course a career spanning more than three decades, Allison Brashear, MD, MBA, has been a physician-scientist, physician-educator, and administrator. She joins us today to discuss her journey from Chair of Neurology to Dean of UC Davis and now the Vice President for Health Sciences and Dean of the Jacob's School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo. S1, e29

To effect change, a leader must be a steward of constants while being a pathfinder for change. That is, a leader who knows their values and purpose is well positioned to establish direction in the face of uncertainty to influence others for the common good and inspire.

While not a primary goal of education, learner happiness facilitates learner achievement (unhappy learners don't learn). Making residents happy in the workplace requires that leaders: Balance learners' wants and needs Adopt a collaborative leadership style and habits Explain and facilitate learners' achievement of “flow” Do not tolerate “bad apples”

The Department of Neurology at the University of Kentucky developed a structured mentoring program based on statements of evidence used for faculty advancement. The program pairs more junior with more senior faculty to help guide their career development and success. Series 1, episode 26

This podcast is designed to discuss how to increase the number of diverse neurologists, optimize the success of diverse trainees, improve the delivery of neurological care to diverse and underserved communities, and enhance the diversity of participants in clinical trials related to neurological disorders.

This episode discusses how neurologists are undervalued in academic and non-academic settings when their compensation is predicated on RVUs alone. Neurologists, particularly in certain disciplines, generate enormous economic advantages for their institutions that need to be recognized, appraised, and valued.

This podcast reviews how to equip chairs with skills for success, ways to use delegation to improve your efficiency as a chair and be a more effective leader and discusses strategies to improve your administrative team. Series 1, episode 23

Departments of Neurology are becoming more administratively complex. One of the most important factors in the success of a Chair is the skill and strength of the Vice Chair leadership team around them. This AUPN Leadership Minute reviews how to develop, recruit, and nurture this team for success. Season 1, episode 22

Dr. Michael Dobbs, Chair of neurology, Vice Dean of Clinical affairs, and Chief Medical Officer of UTRGV School of Medicine discusses balancing multiple leadership roles in a growing medical school and clinical practice. Season 1, episode 21

Dr. O'Donovan walks us through the competing forces that result in burnout in healthcare and shares some methodologies to help leaders to support their clinical staffs to prevent negative ramifications of burnout. Season 1, episode 20

A system-level commitment to wellness is essential to allowing faculty to perform at their best. By valuing faculty for their contributions, providing support and connection, making sure all voices are heard, and involving faculty in decisions and change, faculty can achieve their full potential while also advancing institutional missions. Season 1, episode 19

Department chairs should resist the urge to retain all important jobs and decisions to themselves. Delegation of tasks will make you more productive, empower your team, and improve morale. This podcast reviews ways to use delegation to improve your efficiency as a chair and be a more effective leader. Featuring: Donald S. Higgins, Jr., MD, Veterans Administration & John Greenfield, MD, PhD, University of Connecticut, School of Medicine. Season 1, episode 18

A good working relationship with Neurosurgery is highly important to your success as a Neurology Chair. However, relationships between neurology and neurosurgery are often rife with conflict, and the culture clash between the cognitive and surgical disciplines is a further impediment to building a functional collaboration. In this summary, we explore these challenges and provide strategies for building a successful and lasting partnership. Featuring: Rohit Das, MD, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas & Clifton L. Gooch, MD, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida. Season 1, episode 17

Listen in to hear Dr. Benbadis share the value and benefits of publishing on your work/research. He explains why even in a busy clinical practice, it is feasible and rewarding to publish. He also offers tips and tricks to help you decide on the topics and make the publication more engaging for readers. Featuring: Rohit Das, MD, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas & Selim R. Benbadis, MD, FAAN, FACNS, FAES, University of South FloridaMorsani College of Medicine. Season 1, episode 16

Numerous social media platforms are available to enable communication and engagement outside your department.  A social media presence, if done well, is an invaluable tool for recruiting, education, networking, and enhancing visibility of the faculty and program's accomplishments. A social media strategy must be intentional and dynamic. S1, E15

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