With Holidays Ahead, Consider Your Gifts

The end of the year always provides me with an important time for reflection. The holidays create a natural pause from our daily work and, for me, bring back fond memories of my childhood. One memory that came to mind recently was a poem I received from my daughter many years ago, titled “My Daddy, MD,” which many of you might have seen.

My Daddy, MD

Whenever Daddy signs his name, he always writes MD. So people always know that he belongs to me.

For MD means “My Daddy” or something just the same, and that is why he always puts those letters in his name.

Some letters in his name are small, but these are not, you see.

He always makes them big like that, because he’s proud of me.

This poem helps remind me that as leaders, we are so much more than the letters after our name or the titles we hold. There is a human side that really makes us who we are and allows us to accomplish what we set out to do in life.

The current issue of the Physician Leadership Journal builds on this human side by presenting research and discussion on topics aimed to support physicians through their leadership journey. There are two field reports, which present a method to address physician engagement, alignment and productivity by reducing physician onboarding times, and an assessment of physician leadership development programs used by the top 50 nonprofit hospitals in the United States. We also offer a piece on an important topic for the success of our colleagues: physician wellness and burnout.

As you read through this collection of research, I encourage you to consider its relevance for the work you are doing with your teams every day as you help other leaders to be the best they can be. I also urge you to not lose the opportunity to reflect on your “human side” and really understand what makes you tick. Thinking about how well you are caring for yourself while you are developing programs for others might be the most important thing that you can do for those who care about you.

The PLJ provides a platform for you to share your research with physician leaders throughout the world. Now is the time to use this platform to help inspire change in health care, and to improve the way we deliver care to the patients, families and communities we serve. Each article we publish lets readers reflect on areas of success and see opportunities for clinical and leadership improvement.

We encourage you to contribute to the PLJ. To request author submission guidelines or to submit a manuscript, email editor@physicianleaders.org.