On March 20, the College held its fifth annual Leadership Summit – a full-day virtual event designed to provide our emerging leaders with insights and skills that they can apply in their day-to-day practice.
The event was attended by 24 College members (aged 45 years and younger) from both academic and private practice settings, representing 16 states across the Midwest, Northeast, South Central, Southeast and the West.
The training session covered many aspects of effective communication, including how to relate to others, influence positive communication, overcome barriers and dissolve conflict. Participants were introduced to strategies for creating high-functioning teams, including best practices for effective coaching and performance evaluation.
“I have a framework now for understanding my leadership style and how I can better fulfill the needs of others based on characteristics of their behavioral styles,” said Anjeni Keswani, MD, FACAAI after participating in the 2021 Leadership Summit.
Participants were also given tools to build their confidence and address impostor syndrome, which is commonly experienced by young leaders, by demonstrating courage and overcoming personal fears. They were given opportunities to practice some of the skills they were learning and share their experiences with each other through a variety of interactive activities throughout the day.
“I thought the content and the moderator/educator were outstanding,” said another participant. “The information was useful and relevant.”
Our facilitator received rave reviews from attendees and was described as “knowledgeable,” “dynamic,” “personable,” and “engaging,” while presenting material that was highly relevant and practical.
“It was an extremely informative and practical session that added new skills to and introduced helpful techniques for my evolving practice of medicine,” said Gina Dapul-Hidalgo, MD, FACAAI. “I am confident that I will continue to build on this strong foundation that the College has provided me in order to better serve our patients, staff, and medical community moving forward.”
More than 100 College members have participated in the Leadership Summit since it was first held in 2017. An impressive 80% of them are now serving on our committees with nearly 25% in leadership roles (chairs and vice chairs) and five currently serving on our Board of Regents. The Summit is an important part of the College’s larger effort to empower the next generation of leaders for our specialty. We’ll be taking applications for the 2022 Leadership Summit in December.
The College thanks our participants and our leaders, Luz Fonacier, MD, FACAAI, president, and Michael Blaiss, MD, FACAAI, executive medical director, who joined us for our discussions and interactive activities. The Leadership Summit was sponsored by AstraZeneca.
