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PRESIDENT’S
MESSAGE

LEADERSHIP SYMPOSIUM

By Sheldon Gross, MD, 2018 BCMS President

Dear Colleagues,

One of the main goals of my year as president has been to design ciation as important and es-
and implement a leadership training program for physicians who sential organizations to be-
seemed interested and willing to step forward as leaders in the years come actively involved in.
and decades to come. I am very pleased to announce that we had As I looked across the room, I saw an abundance of human poten-
our inaugural Symposium on Leadership on Sept. 8, 2018 at the tial. I saw future members of our Board of Directors and future
Bexar County Medical Society building. There were approximately Presidents. I saw future Chiefs of Staff of their Hospitals and future
21 participants. They represented a broad spectrum of specialties activists within their specialty societies. I saw future leaders within
and practice models. They also shared one major characteristic. multispecialty groups. I felt personally challenged as the current
They understood the important role that physician leadership will President of Bexar County Medical Society to find the best ways
play in years to come. of funneling this group of talented individuals into activist roles.
We were very fortunate to have a world-class faculty teaching our The second question that I had to deal with is what happens after
four-hour symposium. These are faculty from Trinity University. We this inaugural class is finished. Will this be a one-time experience
started off with a one-hour lecture giving a brief synopsis of Med- never to be repeated? After what I saw in that room on that Saturday
ical Economics. We were told how the United States compares to morning, I can only hope that this will be an experience to be re-
other countries with regards to medical expenditures and with re- peated year after year. I am hopeful that in September of 2019, there
gards to medical outcomes. This was then followed by two profes- will be another group of 25 individuals who are equally eager to de-
sors giving an additional three-hour introductory course on velop their leadership skills and put them to work.
Fundamentals of Leadership. What ensued was a very lively debate We are living in a time that sitting by passively is not an option.
about the characteristics of a good leader and the characteristics of In many ways, our political and legislative strength is directly related
any organization that is well-led. I was impressed not only with the to the strength of our medical societies and organizations. A single
sophistication of our faculty but also with the level of sophistication individual has little hope of negotiating with insurance giants or the
of the participants. Their questions and comments were thoughtful, state or federal government. However, a strong medical association
provoking, and very much on target. The seminar was over at noon. at the state and national level can be extremely effective. I have seen
We requested that all participants fill out an evaluation form and tort reform pass the Texas Legislature. I have seen state and federal
offer comments on how to improve programming in the future. officials come to the Texas Medical Association and American Med-
One hundred percent of the participating physicians filled out an ical Association seeking advice and expert opinion. These organi-
evaluation form. This is almost unheard of. There was unanimous zations require great physician leaders to continue to be dynamic
agreement that the faculty were indeed world class. Several physi- and effective into the future.
cians lamented the fact that the seminar could not have been longer If anyone reading this column feels that they would be interested
than four hours. This initial symposium exceeded my expectations in participating in the next round of leadership seminars starting in
greatly, and my expectations were high to begin with. September 2019, please consider attending future Medical Society
This initial class of 21 individuals will continue to meet and attend functions and letting our present leadership know of your interest.
lectures approximately every six weeks over the following year. I The classes will remain small and focused. To my knowledge, Bexar
have no doubt that they will finish much further along in their de- County Medical Society is the only county medical society in Texas
velopment as leaders. I regret that I was unable to attend a similar offering this type of program to its membership. Your thoughts and
seminar 30 years ago. There are two fundamental questions that re- comments are always welcome.
main to be answered.
The first question pertains to how these individuals will utilize Sincerely,
their newly honed leadership skills. I am obviously hopeful that they SHELDON GROSS, MD
will see Bexar County Medical Society and the Texas Medical Asso- President, Bexar County Medical Society

8 San Antonio Medicine • October 2018