2018 AUPN Fall Chairs Session: Creating a Culture within your Neurology Department
The job of running an academic department has been compared to herding cats; faculty members have their own individual strengths and weaknesses, goals and needs, and if left alone tend to pursue their own interests with little regard for the overall goals of the department chair or the institution. Departmental goals may include high levels of clinical performance, improved research grant and publication productivity, outstanding educational achievement and improved financial performance. Aligning faculty and department goals to ensure consistently high level of performance across these missions can be challenging, particularly since large institutions may be inflexible and resources limited. How does a department chair create a culture of high performance, career satisfaction and engagement in which faculty members see their contributions to each of these missions as vital and important? How do you maintain this culture despite declining clinical reimbursements, lower grant funding rates, and increased educational expectations? What does it take to create a culture of excellence? Dr. Robin Brey will present her approach to creating culture in a large urban medical center, and Dr. Gregory Holmes will discuss the challenges posed within a smaller rural department. For those new to these concepts or who want to know more, see the recommended reading below which presents a nice synthesis of critical concepts as well as specific strategies for group leaders.
2019 AUPN Fall Chairs Session: Difficult Conversations
As Neurology Chairs, we frequently need to tell a faculty member, trainee, or staff member that their work is inadequate, that they have done something wrong, or that their services are no longer needed. We are called on to investigate real or imagined infractions, or mediate between conflicting personnel. These interactions are collectively known as “Difficult Conversations.” Despite years of medical and research training, we get no training in how to do manage these interactions effectively. This session will provide guidance from Dr. Henry Kaminski, a senior Neurology chair who will share what he has learned about how to approach a difficult or contentious topic, how to mediate between warring parties, when to take sides, how to fire an employee, and other challenging topics.
2020 AUPN Fall Chairs Session: Managing Up and Down: Getting What You Need from Your Faculty and Your Dean
Leadership involves getting people to do what you want them to do, not necessarily what they want to do, in service of a greater goal. This session will explore strategies for leading both the faculty who report to you, and those in higher positions at your institution, to achieve your goals for your department.
2019 AUPN Fall Chairs Session: Philanthropy: Lessons Learned
Our Neurology Departments are increasingly dependent on alternative sources of revenue to support research, education and other “unfunded missions.” For many, philanthropy plays an increasingly important role in providing such support. This session will tap the collective wisdom of department chairs who have been successful in obtaining support for their programs through private or public donations. This session will take a "data blitz" approach to address a variety of questions. How do you identify patients who might have the resources to give to your department? How have you approached donors, and what strategies do you find successful? Do you have “war stories” of what has or has not worked? How do you use philanthropic contributions to subsidize your clinical, education or research programs? Do you find that your foundation officers are helpful or do they poach prospective donors for other projects?
2017 AUPN Fall Chairs Session: Politics for Neurology Chairs
With the seismic shift in political alignment brought about by the 2016 federal election, the fates of the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and other major systems supporting healthcare are in question. When is it appropriate (and when inappropriate) for Chairs to be politically active and lobby for what academic neurology needs to meet its missions and goals? How do the goals for academic neurology differ from those for private practice neurologists? What are the most effective means to inform our legislators, executive branch, and the public of our perspective and needs? How do we prioritize those needs (more GME slots, better reimbursement for cognitive specialties, more funding for research)? What can/should we as chairs do to promote a new plan for healthcare that accounts for the challenges faced by academic medical centers in general and neurology in particular?
2021 New Chairs Mentoring Session
The Session Covered: This is an opportunity for experienced mentor Chairs (3+ years’ experience) to meet with new Chairs (0-3 years’ experience) and advise and help with the transition into their new role. The focus of the session will be a general discussion on understanding what the new Chairs believe would be of value to them, as well as answering any specific questions. New Chairs will also be introduced to the many AUPN resources available to them.
2021 AUPN Summer Session: A Conversation with Women Leaders in Neurology
This interactive AUPN course featured a diverse panel of women Neurology faculty with a broad range of leadership experience including as chairs of Neurology Divisions and Departments; Deans of Research and Education as well as leaders within national organizations. Faculty co-led presentations will help establish the framework, followed by a moderated interactive discussion.
2021 AUPN Meet the Chairs Session (Held in Conjunction with the ANA Annual Meeting)
Prominent chairs of neurology will discuss how they handle their position, including what's involved with being a chair; what the process is for attaining their position, and how to interact with chairs.
2022 Women Leaders in Neurology
The pathway to leadership for women can have hurdles and roadblocks but there are often people and programs that can provide a step up over these or an alternate pathway. The speakers will discuss their own path and observations of other women leaders. There will also be some discussion of styles of leadership for women and change in leadership styles that the speakers have experienced over time.
2022 Meet the Chairs Interactive Workshop
Prominent chairs of neurology will discuss how they handle their position, including what's involved with being a chair; what the process is for attaining their position, and how to interact with chairs.Chairing a Department: If You Can't Laugh, You're Done
2022 Fall Chair's Session 1: Governmental Advocacy for Neurology Departments
Governmental advocacy is important for supporting research, public policy, and the practice of Neurology. This course will review the roles, process and optimal tactics for governmental advocacy at the state and national levels, particularly as relevant for academic neurology.
2022 Fall Chair's Session 2: Neuroscience Service Line: What’s the Best Model?
There has been a rapid development of the Neuroscience Service Line in many hospitals across the nation. This effort often requires the collaboration of multiple departments, which aim to provide multi-disciplinary care with higher quality. On the other hand, this reformation also brings challenges such as coordination between various teams and its impact on revenue and research activities. In this course, we invited several speakers involved in this process and will share their experiences and thoughts on this subject.
2023 Clerkship Director's Workshop: Navigating the Continuum of Feedback
Providing feedback to learners is vital to their continued development as medical professionals. Great medical educators strive for proficiency in this domain. During feedback the learner is provided information that describes their performance during a given activity. The intent of such information is to guide the learner’s future performance in that same or related activity. Feedback can be classified in various ways depending on the educator’s aim as well as the process and mode of delivery. During three interactive sessions we will discuss best practices when providing verbal and written feedback as part of formative and summative evaluations to medical students. Along the continuum of feedback, we will also explore the key components of a well-written letter of recommendation.
2023 Women Leaders in Neurology
Women developing as leaders in academic neurology continue to face obstacles. The speakers will discuss their own paths and observations of other women leading. They will talk about handling common problems, such as dealing with microaggressions, taking credit for success while promoting mentees, and developing resilience. There will be consideration of what resources are available, informally and formally, that can support women on the path to leadership whether it is on the “front lines”, “middle lines” or in other roles.
2023 Spring Chairs Session: Navigating Hospital Partners and Large Healthcare Systems
Healthcare system has been rapidly evolving across the nation. Neurology Departments are affiliated with hospitals that may be owned by the university or only have a contractual relationship with the medical school. These variable relationships have resulted in complex administrative systems in each institution that neurology chairs must navigate through. In the course, we have invited three neurology chairs representative of different hospital systems who will share their experiences during their courses of chairmanship.