Is your medical director threatening to retire? He or she doesn’t care about finance or human resources? Tired of worrying about where we will find the next generation of medical leadership at blood centers? Docs, are you looking for a skill set to advance your career in blood banking? Have I got a deal for you!
Rachelle Fondaw, director of Education and Grants at ABC, is collaborating with an international cast of education professionals from the Alliance of Blood Operators (ABO) to author a (largely) web-based Medical Leadership Program to support the development of (our) future medical leaders. The project has grown out of a preparatory research initiative commissioned by ABO outlining the leadership competencies needed by a successful chief medical officer. This program can accommodate only 25 delegates from ABO members, so you need to get in on the ground floor.
The program’s mission is to allow interested physicians to enhance their leadership skills to become potential successors for the medical director or chief medical officer role in their respective organizations. The foci will be managing one’s self, leading others, and leading strategically. Delegates are to be sponsored by their manager and blood center, and leadership at the sponsoring center will be expected to provide mentoring. The program will kick off with a (mandatory) three-day face-to-face workshop Oct. 26-28 (attached to this year’s AABB meeting in Orlando) and continue for nine months (June 2017) with 16 webinar modules of 2-2.5 hours each on topics identified by the preparatory research. The cumulative training commitment is five days of live webinars and one three-day face-to-face workshop. Candidates should have the support of their CEOs prior to applying.
The ABO Medical Leadership program summary and candidate application form are available on the ABC member site, including costs, expectations, and timelines. Applications must be submitted by May 20, and delegates will be confirmed by mid-June or early July. In addition to supporting this Medical Leadership program, Ms. Fondaw is also building ABC’s leadership certificate program intended to develop leaders throughout the organization. She will be sending a short survey to understand which leadership topics are most relevant to our member’s organizations. We look forward to the survey results and receiving candidate applications as ABC continues to build programs that support the growth of our members and the stability of the blood supply. Contact Dr. Katz or Ms. Fondaw with questions.
Louis Katz, MD, Chief Medical Officer