What does it take to be a team player in medicine today?
A few years ago, our CEO sent each of the leaders in the hospital system a copy of the book “Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World” by retired U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal. This was in preparation for an engagement of the McChrystal Group to help us reduce bureaucracy and improve team function and efficiency.
Effective medical practice is becoming more and more closely tied to teamwork, with many people responsible for the care of patients. Humility, rapid and timely communication, and the ability to do one’s job in harmony with others are absolutely necessary.
When LeBron James was a star in Cleveland, he played most of his basketball career wearing his signature headband, but he shed it for part of the playoff season. In a televised interview, he explained that he wanted to feel even more like his teammates as they entered the playoffs.
Medicine is a team sport. Today’s patients aren’t saved by one superstar, but by an entire team. The doctor no longer gets all the credit for the success. Nurses, physician assistants, physical therapists, social workers and many others play active roles that help patients succeed.
[Related:Medical School vs. PA School: What to Consider]
If you’re not yet involved in a team activity, choose a team whose mission you can embrace. Select a team that behaves with integrity and does the right thing. Even as an undergraduate, you can find teams with missions and behaviors you can support.
Avoid teams that do not behave honorably. For example, in the world of medicine, you would not want to choose the team that simply wants to perform the most surgeries, despite what’s in the best interest of the patients.
Once you find your place, go out and have fun with your team. Be inspired, and be inspiring! Being an active member of a team will make you a better doctor and a better person. I love reading medical school applications that include descriptions of activities where teamwork has been key. Incorporating this thoughtfully into your essays can inspire the reader.
As a future medical school applicant, the time to be a team player is now. Your participation in team activities will help you better function in small group sessions and group projects prevalent in most medical school curricula. Admissions committees are looking for indicators that the candidate will function well in team settings.
The Ability to Share When Playing With Others
What matters in medicine today is being “all in” and helping each other to be the best we can be. Physicians don’t work in “The House of God,” a novel in which author Samuel Shem described doctors as cowboys who often didn’t work and certainly were not always focused on the best interests of their patients.
Times have changed and medicine demands teamwork. From discussing plans and a pre-op checklist to discharge planning and needs of the patient after leaving the hospital, there are many additional teams in between and many with different roles in outpatient clinics.
When completing their med school applications, students should be sure to demonstrate how team activities have encouraged a willingness to share. If you played a sport, for example, think about highlighting a time when you thought about the good of your team and the ultimate outcome of the game rather than your individual statistics or performance. This will show medical schools that you can be humble and won’t have trouble accepting help or the opinions of others.
[READ: 5 Key Characteristics of Successful Medical School Applicants.]
This is trickier than it seems. Here’s a current example.
Let’s pretend you are a resident or fellow on a service and your faculty has asked you to do something for the patient. The nurse practitioner tells you that what you’ve been asked to do is her job and she is going to do it. How will you handle this, remaining honest to yourself, your faculty, your teammate the nurse practitioner, and the patient?
Patients are very observant and don’t like to see conflict among team members. With so many different roles in current teams, it can be hard to keep our lanes clear.
There is something called “practicing up to the limits of your license,” which has dramatically changed medicine. This, along with training, indicates what one can do. By the necessity of having many team members, it can be unclear as to whose role it is to do what without very respectful and clear communication.
The Ability to Follow Coaching Instructions
When you’re a medical student, you’ll be taking instruction from basic science teachers, practicing physicians and many others. To get through four years of school, you must learn to listen.
The number-one reason I see students fail in medical school is that they think they know better than what their teachers and advisers are trying to tell them. Following coaching instruction doesn’t mean you’re not intelligent. On the contrary, it means that you can learn from others.
A medical school interview is a good chance to talk about these coaching experiences. You might consider getting a letter of recommendation from a coach, a team leader or the head of the lab where you work who can speak to your ability to take direction and follow through with instruction.
[READ: Everything You Need to Know About Medical School Interviews.]
Good Time-Management Skills
When there are multiple things to do at once, and many responsibilities, how will you manage them? When you have to select between free time and team obligations, which do you prioritize? If that decision isn’t crystal clear, you won’t be on the team for long. Every team member has to make sacrifices for the team, and this is certainly true in terms of time if not in other ways.
Medical school interviews are good opportunities to discuss time-management skills. You can reiterate that you understand that medical school and medicine require juggling many responsibilities, and you’ve experienced that choice before in your team.
You can also talk about how you are prepared to use your team experience when it comes time to sacrifice personally for the good of the patients.
Having the Discipline to Put in Extra Effort
Discipline goes beyond time management. To be disciplined means to devote time to preparation. For example, your band or choir may practice only once or twice a week, but if you are to truly contribute, you will likely practice on your own every day.
Discipline also involves focus, and often courage. The team may need something particular from you and you need to deliver, even if you are a little anxious.
Ability to Adapt to Change and Contribute
If you are a member of a committed team for years, and I hope you have had that opportunity, you will see change after change. The other players, the coach, the strategy and the competitors may all have changed. The one thing in life that you can predict is change.
During all of this, you can rely on the team family to weather these transitions and make them possible. You soon begin to look at failures and losses, and plan how to cope with them even during the hardest of time. You will build on your strengths, alter your strategy and move ahead. Developing this ability is excellent preparation for lifelong learning.
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How Teamwork Activities Can Build Medical School Skills originally appeared on usnews.com
