KING’S HEALTH PARTNERS EXECUTIVE FELLOWSHIP

I had the fortune of being selected for the 2024 King’s Health Partners (KHP) Executive Fellowship in Surgical Leadership and graduated from the program this summer. The one-year fellowship program is run by KHP Academic Surgery, the academic partnership group of King’s College London, Guy’s & St Thomas’ and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trusts.

Led by the charismatic Peter Gogalniceanu, a transplant surgeon with expertise in crisis management and healthcare systems, the program bridges the gap between traditional training programs and the evolving demands of consultancy in modern healthcare. The group was formed of senior fellows or young consultants from each surgical subspecialty, and this year included IR, Anaesthetics and Perioperative Care to recognise the modernisation of surgical care. The experience was brilliant, involving engaging and often challenging conversations about what leadership looks like in contemporary surgery and intervention, using the Harvard Business School cases as central points of debate. Discussing Toto Wolff and Ernest Shackleton’s approaches to leadership in a group providing procedural care contextualises the learning points Examples of learning points included how to lead high performance teams, navigating complex interpersonal conflicts and building integrated clinical services. Particularly fascinating was a boardroom simulation to role-play power dynamics and a session led by a Captain who manages easyJet’s pilot training program to draw parallels between aviation and surgical models of training.

This was followed by immersion into MedTech and Innovation which drew upon the expertise of the newly established London Institute of Healthcare Engineering for each candidate to develop a unique product and business plan. There has been a rapid explosion in startups led by doctors with clinically relevant ideas but who often lack the knowledge and skills to navigate commercialisation. In addition, as MedTech becomes more integrated with clinical medicine, understanding the mechanics of business will become a necessity for successful high-level collaborations.

Balancing a busy clinical fellowship alongside this program does have its difficulties, but this has been considered in the design of the program It was offered in a hybrid format with both in-person and online options, but importantly allowed for retrospective engagement when sessions were missed

Interventional Radiology is a relatively young specialty, and our scope is rapidly evolving. As such, clinical and technical expertise needs to be balanced with our role outside of the angio-suite. Nontechnical skills are essential for young IRs as the need to advocate for resources and clinical visibility continues in our bid to expand services.

Leadership is understood as a separate skillset in industries outside of medicine which requires specific training to lead increasingly complex teams. The strength of the program lies in its teachers, individuals who can adapt these training models to the unique challenges facing us Leadership is a lifelong endeavor, and this fellowship helps lay down the foundation on which to build.

Read the full article: https://issuu.com/bsir/docs/2024_autumn_newsletter_3_