This too shall pass. 

Many have uttered that phrase, silently or at high pitch, in the midst of a crisis. The case of the workforce shortage is just that: a complicated, multifaceted predicament with an elusive solution. Or is it? 

Stepping away and welcoming perspectives from different fields can be invigorating and illuminating. Particularly when those perspectives are from smart business school faculty. Really smart. Top MBA program smart. Those faculty members — and their laser-focused insights — are available not just to the CEOs of the world, but to you, at the 2024 Radiology Leadership Institute (RLI) Summit, Sept. 6–8, in Boston. 

Caution: Epiphanies Ahead

Now in its 12th year, the RLI Summit brings together faculty from Babson College, with its Number One entrepreneurship MBA program, and radiology leaders to form a unique playing field in which to explore radiology’s challenges. 

New Summit Program Chair Geoffrey D. Rubin, MD, MBA, FACR, from the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center in Tucson, Ariz., has put together a program that gives attendees a taste of the business side of the specialty, this time with a focus on workforce challenges. Attendees will have the opportunity to step outside of their day-to-day work, without distractions, and with new business school mentors.

“Participants will be exposed to new tools to work their way toward solutions for aspects of the workforce crisis in a very interactive manner,” says Rubin. “It’s a chance for epiphanies to emerge. The business school faculty offers fresh perspectives, even for long-standing issues such as the workforce shortage.”

"[The Summit] was a great forum where I was able to connect with other chief residents across the country and expand our network of trainees. Learning to effectively navigate a leadership role has been challenging, but the RLI program provided valuable guidance in helping me learn how to align incentives with motivations to advocate for our residents and drive impactful progress that improves the trainee experience at my residency program.

What to Expect from Case Studies

The Summit doesn’t intend to “let a good crisis go to waste,” as Winston Churchill once said. Richard Duszak Jr., MD, FACR, professor and chair of the department of radiology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Miss. and ACR CEO Dana H. Smetherman, MD, MPH, MBA, FACR, will present real-life case studies exploring staffing and volume challenges. Smetherman shares her experience and lessons learned with a common event in many practices: the unexpected departure of radiologists.

“Transitions are going to happen,” says Smetherman. “Hopefully it won’t be one in which you lose several people in a short period of time, as in the case study I will be leading at the Summit, but the takeaways are relevant to multiple situations.” 

Summit attendees will learn ideas they can implement quickly, how to break down a challenge into components and successfully support a team through such a loss, and why to invest in introspection. “Is something going on in your department?” says Smetherman. “Have you fallen out of touch with the market — whether it’s compensation or benefits, does your culture need to be addressed, is your equipment out of date? As a leader, I don’t want to be sitting here in five years talking about the same problem.” 

A Mindset Shift: From Clinical to Business Thinking

Though all physicians learn problem-solving skills, the know-how to overcome business challenges is uniquely absent from most medical school curricula. 

“We have to remember that expertise in one domain doesn't necessarily translate to expertise in another domain; you may need a different skill set for some issues,” says Smetherman. “You have to be open to receiving input from others who may have more administrative insight and even people outside of your institution.” 

The Summit and other RLI offerings provide “core and fundamental business and leadership competencies that radiologists should have,” says Rubin. “The sooner radiologists are exposed to such knowledge, the sooner they can apply it in their practices and increase the impact they bring to healthcare.”

Building a Business Foundation for Early Career Radiologists

Because they’re early in their careers, residents and young physicians can gain a foundation of knowledge at the Summit and build on it throughout their career. The preconference workshop on Thursday, Sept. 5, is dedicated exclusively to these groups. 

“All of us are practicing leadership in one way or another, even trainees,” says Neil U. Lall, MD, radiologist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and member of the preconference workshop planning committee. “The workshop provides opportunities to network with leaders that you may not necessarily have the chance to as a resident. These people are very influential in making decisions, and having those types of opportunities can be really beneficial, whether or not they lead to mentorship opportunities or potential job opportunities.”

A Can’t-Miss Opportunity for Critical Thinking 

If money and time were abundant, how could we fix radiology’s workforce issues? 

“I don’t think there’s one solution,” says Rubin. “We could work as we’ve always done, hoping to train twice as many radiologists as possible. But that would be wasting the crisis. This is the chance to look critically at how we do our work and how we contribute within a team populated by other healthcare experts, providers and technology. 

“It’s an opportunity for invention and innovation, to reinvent ourselves, hopefully into something that brings even greater value to our patients.”

If You’re Going Through Hell … Keep Going

When faced with a tough situation such as losing staff, ACR CEO and RLI Summit Case Study Presenter Dana H. Smetherman, MD, MPH, MBA, FACR, supports her team with the following practical advice (and occasionally quotes from Winston Churchill):

• What can we do to make sure we are not having the same discussion five years from now? 
• Let's make sure we know the problem we are trying to solve.
• Always assume positive intent.

Smetherman suggests reframing a crisis into a moment of opportunity. “Sometimes, resistance to creative or out-of-the-box solutions is lower in a time of crisis,” she says, “and approaches that would not have been accepted in the past may even be embraced.”