Module 1 - Management and Strategy

• This module of management and strategy has most definitely pushed my thinking of general management beyond my routine comfort level of strategy thinking.  Working in an independent medical practice setting, I got more comfortable in managing administrative and business tasks at a slow pace.  Throughout this module, I have developed a more broad perspective in working with an organization as a whole
• Some new capabilities that I feel I have developed throughout this module are leadership skills.  I am used to working in partnerships and groups for the purpose of advancing an health organization.  Learning about the 10 commitments of leadership and applying them to the private practice that I manage has benefited me and the personnel that rely on me to work in a more collaborative setting.
• A new career direction that I am most certainly considering in pursuing long-term is taking a more proactive role in managing an established health care organization such as working as a hospital administrator and using my clinical knowledge from medical school to influence decision making from an executive's standpoint.
• My primary area of focus right now after going through this module is strategic thinking.  Especially now with the major changes happening in today's health care system, I am always focused on finding ways to advance the discussion among my health care colleagues, work in a more collaborative fashion, and increase participation hopefully from everyone involved who ultimately wish to achieve the same objective, patient care.
• It was nice to have some clarity and thought with regards to effective team motivation and communication.  I know through my own experience when my fellow clinicians feel overworked and under appreciated, it can sometimes take a toll on one's initiative and drive to work in health care.  Understanding those communication barriers and how to get though or around them I believe would serve everyone better.  Maintaining perspective through both the patient and the clinician can increase mutual understanding and participation.
• One new strategy that I am starting to encounter more and more of everyday as both a clinician and a business manager is Michael Porter's 5 Forces for Competitors.  I have seen over the years how different health care entities and different health care companies do business with each other.  Those forces I believe interconnects all of us that work in the health care field whether it is the doctor, the pharmaceutical representative, the insurance executive, the hospital board of trustees, the nurse, or even the clinic registration personnel.  They're all connected in some way and they all will influence each other through one approach or the other.
• One of the challenges that I overcame during the course of this module was time management.  Working full-time in a health care setting and committing time to my studies through this module was a challenge I took on, planned ahead, and I felt that I came out strong as individual.  I feel like going through this module alone has given me a broad idea of how an executive manages his time.  Another challenge was learning about the different health care organization setups whether it was Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Virginia Mason Medical Center, or Intermountain Health Care.  Every organization has a different approach and a different set mission, values, and vision.

Key Competencies: 

Leadership: leading and managing others, planning and implementing change
Communication and Relationship Management: interpersonal communication, writing skills, working in teams
Business Skills and Knowledge: human resources management, strategic planning, marketing, organizational behavior and governance, planning and managing projects, quantitative analysis
Professionalism: improving community health
Health Care Knowledge: health care personnel, health care issues and trends