28 October 2024

In October 2024 Dr Mihir Desai became a graduate of the King's Health Partners (KHP) Executive Fellowship in Surgical Leadership programme. The unique programme teaches leadership as the process of implementing positive change in dynamic, volatile or complex environments. With applications open for the programme's third year, Dr Desai, who works within the Department of Interventional Radiology at Guy’s and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust (FT), wants to share his experience.

Find out why the course is the right programme for surgical trainees, perioperative physicians, consultants, and interventional radiologists like Dr Desai in his blog below:

I had the fortune of graduating from the 2024 KHP Executive Fellowship in Surgical Leadership recently. This is a one-year fellowship programme run by KHP Academic Surgery, the academic partnership group of Guy's and St Thomas' and King’s College Hospital NHS FTs, and King's College London.   

Led by the charismatic Mr Peter Gogalniceanu - a transplant surgeon with expertise in crisis management and executive leadership - the programme bridges the gap between traditional training programmes and the evolving demands of consultancy in modern healthcare. The group was formed of senior fellows and young consultants from each surgical subspecialty, and this year included interventional radiology (IR), anaesthetics and perioperative care, highlighting the modernisation of surgical care.   

Leadership learning points

The experience was brilliant with engaging and often challenging conversations about what leadership looks like in contemporary surgery and intervention by utilising the business school cases as central points of debate. Discussing Toto Wolff [Team Principal of the Mercedes F1 team] and Sir Ernest Shackleton’s [early 20th century explorer] approaches to leadership in a group providing procedural care contextualises the learning points. Examples of learning points included how to lead high performance teams, navigating complex interpersonal conflicts, and building integrated clinical services. Particularly fascinating was a boardroom simulation to role-play power dynamics and a session led by a Captain who manages a major UK airline’s pilot training programme to draw parallels between aviation and surgical models of training.  

This was followed by immersion into MedTech and innovation, which drew upon the expertise of the newly established London Institute of Healthcare Engineering, for each candidate to develop a unique product and business plan. There has been a rapid explosion in startups led by doctors with clinically relevant ideas but who often lack the knowledge and skills to navigate commercialisation. In addition, as MedTech becomes more integrated with clinical medicine, understanding the mechanics of business will become a necessity for successful high-level collaborations.  

Balancing a busy clinical fellowship alongside this programme does have its difficulties, but this has been considered in the design of the programme. It was offered in a hybrid format with both in-person and online options, but importantly allowed for retrospective engagement when sessions were missed.   

Balancing clinical and technical expertise

Interventional radiology is a relatively young speciality and our scope is rapidly evolving. As such, clinical and technical expertise needs to be balanced with our role outside of the angio suite operating room. Non-technical skills are essential for young IRs as the need to advocate for resources and clinical visibility continues in our bid to expand services.  

Leadership is understood as a separate skillset in industries outside of medicine which requires specific training to lead increasingly complex teams. The strength of the programme lies in its teachers, individuals who are able to adapt these training models to the unique challenges facing us. Leadership is a lifelong endeavour, and this fellowship helps lay down the foundation on which to build.   

This Fellowship is taking applications from outside the KHP Academic Group this year, and the deadline is Tuesday 10 December 2024. Click here for more information and how to apply.