AAMC leaders to academic medicine: Your work matters

AAMC President and CEO David J. Skorton, MD, and AAMC Board Chair Lee Jones, MD, chat with the audience and each other after delivering their leadership speeches at Learn Serve Lead 2024: The AAMC Annual Meeting on Nov. 10 in Atlanta.

Credit: Kaveh Sardari

AAMC President and CEO David J. Skorton, MD, and AAMC Board Chair Lee Jones, MD, shared stories of resilience and strategies for navigating challenges during the leadership plenary Nov. 10 at Learn Serve Lead 2024: The AAMC Annual Meeting in Atlanta.

At a time of unprecedented political and social uncertainty, as well as increasing scrutiny of institutions, including academic medicine, Skorton and Jones reminded attendees of the incredible privilege at the heart of their profession - caring for patients in their darkest hours.

"Throughout many election cycles, wars, devastating natural disasters, the 1918 flu pandemic, and more recently COVID-19, among many obstacles … society increasingly came to rely on medicine, including academic medicine," Skorton told attendees during the plenary, which also featured a fireside chat. "We can be certain throughout history and today: Our work matters. Your work matters!"

Jones similarly reminded colleagues of the impact of their work on society: "You've conducted research aimed at making life better for all of us. You've supported our next generation of physicians. You've dedicated yourselves to lifelong learning," Jones told the gathering of physicians and scientists. "You've cared for people from all walks of life, many living in dire situations. You've had the privilege of being inspired by the resiliency, caring, bravery, and strength of the human spirit."

It is that human spirit that gives Jones and Skorton hope for the future: "I am inspired and in awe of all of you - with full heart and soul, you get up every day and do your best to take care of others," Jones said. "You aim to do what is right, to empower vulnerable people, to advance our knowledge - to make a difference and to make things better."

Jones shares lessons learned from patients and colleagues

Jones began his talk with the stories of two patients - one a cancer patient named Margaret, and the other his father. A psychiatrist by training, Jones recounted how he had gotten to know Margaret and her husband, Jake, over many months of treatment, and how privileged he felt to share in their last days together.

One particular moment during that time stood out. Upon entering Margaret's room, Jones recalled, she took his hand in both of hers and said she was worried that Jones wasn't getting enough sleep.

"My first thought was 'Wait! This isn't supposed to happen. I'm the caregiver here,'" Jones said. "I then realized that this wasn't about physician and patient. This was about being human and caring. This was about connection. This was about love."

At Margaret's funeral, Jones was seated between two of the couple's sons, and one of them listed him as one of the most important people in Margaret's life. "I had underestimated the impact that simply caring has," Jones told the audience.

That theme of human connection reappeared as he recalled the last days of his father, a civilian engineer for the Air Force. Jones recounted how his sister, who worked for the State Department, was in Namibia when the family got word that he didn't have much time left. No one thought she would make it back to the States in time to say goodbye - except the nurse who whispered in his ear that his daughter was on the way.

In fact, his father did make it long enough to see her. "Not only did he stay with us, but he woke up and recognized my sister. We were all together for one last time. My father died just hours later," Jones recalled. "I'd forgotten about something very important - the strength of the human spirit - the strength of my father's spirit. Thank God his nurse hadn't forgotten."

Jones ended his talk with a nod to that human spirit, which inspires him and his colleagues to soldier on through hard times: "Let's take a moment to feel the spirit of gratitude, without diminishing our challenges and the darkness in our world. We often don't get to choose the trials we face. The choice we do have is how we live the life we are each given. Each of you has the power to make us better and the world a better place. You are already doing this."

Skorton offers wisdom for navigating "headwinds"

Skorton began his talk by acknowledging the difficult circumstances in which physicians and other health care providers are operating today, including pervasive burnout, divisive politics, and devastating world events.

And he reminded them that these "headwinds," as he calls them, aren't unique to our time. Two hundred years ago, in 1824, in the midst of a divisive political election in which none of the four candidates for U.S. president received enough votes to win a majority of the Electoral College, good things in the world of academic medicine did happen. One of them was the establishment of Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia - the institution that later served as the birthplace of the AAMC. This year, the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, as the school is now known, celebrated its 200th anniversary, with a graduating class of diverse, innovative students poised to tackle medicine's biggest challenges.

Skorton then invoked the work of neurosurgeon and spiritual leader don Miguel Ruiz, the author of The Four Agreements, for guidance in navigating those challenges with humility and compassion.

The four agreements include:

"Be impeccable with your word" - which Skorton paraphrased as speaking and acting with integrity.

"Don't take anything personally" - a reminder to cultivate "an environment of empathy and compassion, acknowledging our shared humanity," something he recognized is not easy to do in our current environment. "By doing so, we can work to create space for mutual understanding and move toward acceptance."

"Don't make assumptions" - and, in particular, when your work is challenged, don't assume you have to abandon your values or lose hope. Skorton gave the example of diversity, equity, and inclusion. "While there certainly are challenges to this work, let's not forget that we are still making important progress," he said.

"Always do your best" - for patients, for your colleagues, and for your community. Skorton shared a story of a patient with congenital heart disease who had asked for him personally to remove her from life support when the time came. "Having a woman place her complete trust in me … to handle not only her life, but her death … was unbelievably humbling," he said. "On this, and many other occasions, I have learned from patients and families how to aspire to be a more effective physician."

"'Always do your best,'" Skorton reiterated. "That is what we all strive to do. Even when it's the hardest of all things to do."