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Departments, residency programs take steps to create, support neurosurgery leaders
BOSTON — Leadership and neurosurgical careers can successfully coexist with good communication skills, leadership-development curriculums and residency programs that foster leadership early on in the neurosurgery career path, according to a presenter here.
Although these comments were directed at women in neurosurgery, they apply to men, too, according to Karin M. Muraszko, MD, FACS, who spoke during a special session at the Congress of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting.
“All surgeons, whether you recognize it or not, are leaders,” she said.
Neurosurgeons, by the nature of their work — running offices, performing surgery in the OR, working in laboratories, teaching or mentoring younger surgeons — are called to be leaders. However, they need to be purposeful leaders and have a leadership development plan in place, according to Muraszko, who has been chair of the department of neurosurgery at the University of Michigan for the past 10 years.
She is still the only woman neurosurgery chair in the United States and is the Julian T. Hoff Professor, she said.
“With that comes a huge burden. Any one of you who knew Dr. Hoff [knew] he was person with enormous shoes,” Muraszko said.
Neurosurgery residency programs can be particularly ripe proving grounds for future leaders in neurosurgery, and it is an opportune time for leadership to be learned, Muraszko said.
According to Muraszko, there is value in including leadership principles in the neurosurgical residency training, not just for the women, but for men as well, and such early orientation toward leadership can pay off later.
Muraszko discussed steps the University of Michigan took in this area, including the development of a specific leadership-development curriculum.
“We created reading lists. We made heavy use of some of the curriculums already available to us from the Association of American Medical Colleges and the various organizations,” she said. The university also borrowed concepts from the military and management organizations.
Muraszko encouraged neurosurgeons to look out for their own careers and create an active support group, something she did years ago.
“That group has stood by me throughout my entire career,” she said. “It acts as an honest sounding board.” — by Susan M. Rapp
Reference:
Muraszko KM. Leadership and your neurosurgical career. Presented at: Congress of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting; Oct. 18-22, 2014; Boston.
Disclosure: Muraszko has no relevant financial disclosures.