FROM THE PRESIDENT by VALERIE F . BRIONES-PRYOR , MD , MHA , SFHM , FACP
The Unintentional Leader
Mabuhay * and Happy New Year ! As each new year begins , I like to reflect on the years past and make notes of where I have grown and where I need to improve . I still wonder sometimes how I came to this place in my career . My journey into leadership was very unintentional at the start . When I started my first job , I thought I would be happy being a general internist who saw patients in the office , hospital and nursing home . I was happy learning about my patients , working with staff in my office and in the hospital , and most importantly , working alongside my Dad , who was already a well-established internist . However , as the months went on , I became increasingly aware of issues that were affecting my patients ’ care , particularly in the hospital . I started with just being curious and asking different leaders in the hospital about the processes in place . Back then , I did not know much about how hospitals worked aside from that I wanted my patient to receive the best care , so I genuinely wanted to learn about the why behind the process .
I soon figured out that the more questions I had , the more issues I discovered . With every question I had , I was also directed to a leader who was more than happy to bend my ear about the topic at hand and then ask my help in addressing the issue . The one thing I quickly learned about hospitals is that the minute you show interest in a topic , you will be asked to sit on the hospital committee addressing it . Sure enough , it did not take long before I was sitting on several different hospital committees addressing everything from pharmacy issues to peer review .
The good news was that I enjoyed learning about how the hospital worked , and the hospital leadership trusted me to pilot new initiatives with my hospital patients , such that I was offered my first leadership position as the Medical Director of the Hospitalist Program for the facility . From that point on , my career changed as I had to give up my primary care practice to become a hospitalist full-time while overseeing the hospitalist group . Over the years , my role has evolved , and my responsibilities have grown . I have had the opportunity to work with great leaders who became my mentors and not so great leaders that showed me what not to do . Every day , I continue to learn what kind of leader I want to be and the kind of leader the people around me need me to be .
When I first started in practice , my Dad would tell me that to make a real difference , identifying the problem is not enough , I need to be part of the solution . For me , that means being on the frontlines , working side by side with my colleagues and staff , improving patient care one patient at a time , then taking that knowledge to the board room to improve patient care on a higher level . I have never been one to lead from a desk , and I definitely am not one to ask others to do something that I am not prepared to do myself . I was once told that my leadership style is one of leading from behind or within . I like to think of it as leading by serving those around me .
In this month ’ s issue , we will be highlighting our physician colleagues who have taken on the role of physician leaders . However , I like to think that as physicians , we are all leaders by default , regardless of a formal leadership title . When we walk onto the hospital floor or our offices or the operating room , people look to us to set the tone . Whether we intend to be leaders or not , we have the opportunity to make positive changes by being part of solutions to problems instead of creating them .
I wish all of you a happy New Year ! * Mabuhay is a Filipino greeting meaning “ long life .”
Dr . Briones-Pryor is the Medical Director for the Hospital Medicine Service Line for UofL Health and is the Chief Medical Officer for UofL Health Shelbyville Hospital .
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