Leadership, behavioral science, and interprofessional teamwork.

Abstract

The greatest challenge I face as a pediatric oncologist is breaking life-threatening news to patients and their parents. I frequently felt the need to improve my ability to deliver such information in a professional, yet compassionate way. I was fortunate to participate in the Leadership Institute, which provided me with the skills and perspectives that inspired me to seek out team-centered methodologies and medical decision-making theories. After learning techniques for priority setting, situational leadership, expressing empathy, and conveying bad news, guidance from the Leadership Institute prompted me to collaborate with nursing, social work, and chaplaincy colleagues to develop a team-based approach for helping families facing end-of-life decisions. Our success in the clinical arena led to my leadership project, which focused on academic collaborations to develop an educational exercise for pediatric residents, and students in nursing, social work, and chaplaincy, designed to introduce learners to these techniques and the experience of conducting end-of-life discussions as part of an interprofessional team. We published an initial description of this 4-hour simulation-based training session and now plan to submit our cumulative 3-year quantitative and qualitative results. This commentary describes my growing appreciation of the power of behavioral medicine, and how the lessons learned through the Society of Behavioral Medicine and the Leadership Institute have not only facilitated the success of my project but also enriched multiple aspects of my professional life.