What it takes to be surgical leaders

Prof Prokar Dasgupta shares what he admires about the next generation of surgical leaders and explains how the Executive Fellowship in Surgical Leadership is inspiring innovation in surgery.  

King’s Health Partners Academic Surgery is offering a twelve-month Executive Fellowship in Surgical Leadership which aims to teach leadership as the process of implementing positive change in dynamic, volatile or complex environments. As part of this programme, participants learn how to innovate, lead responsibly and navigate change to transform their own clinical practice and leadership.

KHP Communications Officer Jess Shankland spoke to Prof Prokar Dasgupta [picturued] - one of the course leaders - to find out more about what exactly this Fellowship entails and why it matters for the next generation of surgeons. They spoke about the importance of innovation, the changing world of surgery, and Prof Dasgupta also revealed his three keys to success in surgical leadership.

What do you enjoy most about facilitating the Executive Fellowship?

I enjoy interacting with young surgeons and young colleagues from other surgical specialties and other expert specialties. They think they’re just learning from us, but I learn as much from them as I hope they learn from me. The new generation of surgeons are amazing in how they handle the demands of society. Patients’ expectations are different today than when I started, they are more Internet savvy and most people do search online as soon as they receive a diagnosis. 

Surgeons used to worry about the sheets of paper that patients would print from the Internet but the modern surgeons actually welcome it. They see it as a useful part of the discussion and they can tell the patient as to where the Internet is perhaps not giving the right advice. The modern surgeon is much more accepting of the fact that it's a decision that is jointly made with the patient. They also are part of a team and they are more interested in work life balance. They are much more aware of work-load, work-life balance, general health, and all the good things life has to offer outside of surgery.

Why is innovation and leadership important in surgery?

When I was training to be a surgeon I did leadership courses. Now those courses have become more nuanced. The entire idea of innovation, which used to be purely and largely driven by industry, has changed - it has become multi-disciplinary, and many surgeons are designing their own startups and working with industry and joining that innovation journey.

I think if we are to develop new technologies for the benefit of patients, it is imperative that there is collaboration between industry and surgeons. That relationship needs to happen early on rather than towards the end, that's the way to have success with tech and success with companies going forward. 

What kind of innovation projects have come out with the Fellowship so far? 

One example that was presented during the Fellowship graduation ceremony was a company producing artificially intelligent tools, where based on looking with a telescope under a white light, an intelligent camera could pick up tumours that a surgeon could possibly miss. It's not going to replace the surgeon because someone must still examine with the telescope in the right place at the right time, but I think this could make a surgical procedure much more accurate and reduce the risk of missing things. 

Another thing that the Fellows have taken on board is the standardisation of reporting. I think that should become standard of care rather than something that you just do as an afterthought. I'm really pleased to see the way people have taken on the Fellowship and enhanced their innovation and standardisation skills.

What do you think makes a good surgical leader?

Now that varies, from person to person, because leadership styles vary. I think a surgical leader has to be resilient. It is long hours that surgeons take on and they understand that. So I think resilience, both physically and mentally, is a vital part of leadership. 

I think humility is also helpful. Most good leaders need to understand that they are part of a team and need to be humble. I believe in a flat structure rather than a pyramid. I feel as a surgical leader I’m part of a team where every member contributes and I do the same, because if I didn't then what’s the point in me being there?

Lastly the quality that has remained the same for as long as surgery has existed, is being decisive. To me, although not everyone else agrees with me, this is the thing that defines a great surgical leader. Of course, there are a number of surgical specialties where this kind of decisive surgery is done by people who want to do that kind of work, whereas a lot of the diagnostic work where you make the diagnosis is done by a number of people who do not feel they have decisive qualities.

Who would benefit most from the Fellowship and what's something that participants will learn that you wish you'd learn when you were starting? 

I wish this Fellowship existed when I was training, but nothing like this did. I think Petrut Gogalniceanu has really brought in the best of the Harvard Medical School and combined it with the best of King’s College London. Where you learn human factors; learn how to make decisions; learn how not to make mistakes; and learn how to innovate at the same time.

It combines the strengths of King's Health Partners – value-based healthcare and frugal innovation. It combines the best of both worlds. The ideal people to join this programme would be young surgeons towards the end of their training. Perhaps those who have finished their Certificate of Completion of Training or equivalent in other parts of the world - because not everyone has the same British Certificate of Completion, but they would have an exit exam which they would have taken or are about to sit. Where apart from learning how to cut and how to look after patients, they want to have an experience that would bring real value to their surgical careers in future.

What makes this programme unique? 

You learn about life and society. The NASA scientists, the extreme weather explorers, those who have to make very difficult defence-related decisions are under as much pressure as a surgeon ever will be. We, as surgeons, have a lot to learn from their experience and there are direct parallels with those scenarios to what we do in daily life as surgeons. I would rather the next generation of surgeons learned about these difficult scenarios and developed a response to these.

Not every surgeon will have the same response to each scenario, it may be different, but I would encourage them to learn from those scenarios. Those associated non-surgical parts of life are as important, if not more important, for surgical leaders of the future. 

To find out more about the Executive Fellowship in Surgical Leadership and apply, please visit the webpage here.