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WOMEN IN
MEDICINE
If someone had told me when I graduated from college that by my best. A positive attitude and a lifelong passion for learning, I
the age of 50 I would have been Chief of the Medical Staff at three believe, are keys to a successful medical leadership career.
separate facilities, CEO of a 55-bed community hospital in
Florida and then command the largest Level 1 trauma center in Sandberg has one more point that I want to share and that is
Afghanistan, I would have found this quite curious. “make your partner a real partner.” I am where I am today be-
cause of the incredible support of my husband. I recently returned
I was asked to write an article to support the month of October in March 2016 after a 12-month deployment to Afghanistan and
theme: Female Leaders in Medicine. If there is one message I instead of just surviving, my husband approached the year as op-
would like to share it is simply that there are so many opportuni- portunities for thriving. The whole family, including our two sons,
ties to lead and that it doesn’t matter if you are male or female. took on new challenges and at the end we grew academically,
Say yes. physically, socially, professionally and spiritually. It turned out to
be one of the best years ever. As the Task Force Medical
My name is Gianna Zeh and I have had the privilege of being Afghanistan Commander as well as Commander of Craig Joint
a pediatrician in the United States Air Force for 23 years. Every Theater Hospital at Bagram Airfield, I had the privilege of leading
assignment I have had in the Air Force has been my favorite job. all medical forces in eight separate operation locations throughout
I completed my pediatric residency here in San Antonio from Afghanistan. We provided trauma response and theater aeromed-
Wilford Hall Medical Center in 1996. I love being a pediatrician ical evacuation for all U.S. and coalition forces.
and I found myself heading to Mountain Home Air Force Base
in Idaho to practice following graduation. Presently, I’m assigned as the vice commander of Air Force
Medical Operations Agency at Joint Base San Antonio-Lack-
Serving my patients became my passion. I wanted my patients land, Texas. We implement Air Force Medical Service (AFMS)
to trust me and to know that I was there for them. Continuity of policies and procedures in support of 2.6 million beneficiaries
care was very important to me. My asthma patients knew that if in 76 Military Treatment Facilities world-wide. What excites me
they were having an exacerbation I would walk them in or meet most about my current position is to be walking the journey of
them in the ER anytime. Trusted Care. We are building and sustaining a high reliability
organization with a goal of zero harm. Lt. Gen. Mark A. Ediger,
Pediatrics was not my only love. I met and married my husband USAF Surgeon General, is quoted as saying “those we serve de-
in Idaho who also was serving in the Air Force. Our journey as serve the very best.”
joint spouses began; meaning the military would try to locate us
together but mission took priority. This is relevant because I didn’t What inspires me to get up every morning is this quote in com-
map my career path. Opportunities in the form of jobs were pre- bination with a patient’s perspective on reliability: don’t harm me,
sented to me and I said YES because keeping our family together heal me and be nice to me. I believe the foundation of this pa-
was the most important priority. Sheryl Sandberg describes this tient’s perspective is trust and their trust is an incredible privilege.
idea in her book Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead. Our profession has work to do and I am up for the challenge and
Don’t turn down leadership opportunities early in your career be- opportunity to reduce preventable harm. To bring about this cul-
cause you are too busy or it isn’t the right timing for your family tural change of Trusted Care the AFMS is focusing on four do-
and children. Sandberg states that you should find your seat at mains: leader engagement, continuous process improvement,
the table and “don’t leave before you leave.” However the oppor- patient safety and the patient experience. I’m excited for this next
tunities were presented to me, I never said no. I never said I don’t level of leadership and appreciate the opportunity to share my
have the skill set. My approach was always to determine what I journey with you.
needed to learn to accomplish the mission and to always give it
visit us at www.bcms.org 19
