Evolution of an Academic Department

By Xlibris US

The health-care industry and its professional practice are currently in uncertain times as the outcome of the hotly debated health-care reform is awaited. While the magnitude of potential change may be unchallenged, the past century has been one of continual change for the medical profession and its practice. The rapidity of this change has continually increased with emerging new technologies and changes in the social fabric of society. Even the doctor-patient relationship has changed.

Medicine as a profession and the specialties within it have had to adapt to this change in order to be relevant to the physicians it trains, the patients they treat, and to maintain status among their peers. This book chronicles the history of the successful adaptation to required changes in one medical-school department.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 10, 2014
• ISBN: 9781493156290

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 by Barry S. Verkauf, MD, MBA.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2013923317

ISBN:   Hardcover   978-1-4931-5628-3

   Softcover   978-1-4931-5627-6

   eBook   978-1-4931-5629-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 03/03/2014

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris LLC

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

542342

CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgments

List Of Contributors

Introduction To Chapter 1

The Age Of Innocence

Chapter 1

James Mayhew Ingram Jr., Md

References

Table 1

Table 2

Table 3

Table 4

Chapter 2

Evolution Of The Department Of Obstetrics And Gynecology

The Early Years

Changing Times

Chapter 3

Midwinter Seminar In Obstetrics And Gynecology

Table 5

Introduction To Chapter 4

The Classic Department Expansion And Growth

Chapter 4

William N. Spellacy, Md

Table 6

Table 7

Table 8

Table 9

Table 10

Chapter 5

Accelerated Growth

Usf Gynecologic Oncology An Abbreviated History

The Division Of Maternal-Fetal Medicine

The Division Of Reproductive Endocrinology And Infertility

The Division Of General Obstetrics And Gynecology

The Division Of Gynecologic Specialties

The Division Of Urogynecology

The Division Of Gynecologic Imaging

The Division Of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery

The Division Of Gynecologic Research

Chronic Pelvic Pain

Table 11

Introduction To Chapter 6

The Times, They Are A Changin’

Chapter 6

Dr. David L. Keefe

Table 12

Table 13

Introduction To Chapter 7

Adaptation To A Changing Environment

Chapter 7

What We Forgot To Teach In Medical School… And Why It Matters

Conclusion 1: Doctors Are Not Like Other People

Conclusion 2: We Need To Move From Softis To Crisps

Conclusion 3: It Is Difficult To Get Someone To Understand Something When Their Salary Depends Upon Them Not Understanding It (Upton Sinclair)

Conclusion 4: Process Drives Culture, And Building A Performance Culture Requires Leadership Development, Mentoring, And Succession Planning

Conclusion 5: We Tend To Overestimate Technology In The Short Term And Underestimate It In The Long Term (Roy Amara)

Epilogue

PREFACE

Books are the material evidence of what we know. They represent knowledge, and through them, we discover what we know and who we are. Historical books present a chronological record of events. In this volume, I have told the story of an academic department in a medical school. Like most stories, some of the information is documented, but much information or knowledge is passed orally from one individual to another.

Undoubtedly, some information may be inadvertently omitted, and some information contained herein is subject to interpretation. It has not been my purpose to pass judgment on these events but, rather, to simply describe them in light of the times in which they occurred as I understood them. Many individuals have contributed to the complexion, highs, lows, foibles, and feats of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine. But my principal purpose here has been to describe the evolution of the organization as a whole and those who set the direction of its future.

An organization is a social arrangement among individuals, which pursues collective goals, controls its own performance, and has a boundary separating it from its environment. Like the individuals who comprise it, the organization reactively or proactively responds to the needs and the exigencies of the external environment that surrounds it. That environment in the twentieth century—particularly its last half and on into the present—has been one of increasingly rapid change. Alvin Toffler, in his 1970 book Future Shock,¹ expressed doubt regarding man’s psychological capacity to adapt successfully to the rapidity of coming change and indicated that it would challenge organizations as well.

It has often been said that change is a constant. Like in the eons that have passed, adaptability to change is necessary for survival. This book is the story of that adaptation as it relates to a particular type of organization—the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in a medical school.

Departments in medical schools are hierarchical in nature. They are also matrix organizations in which each member serves two different hierarchies. One hierarchy is functional. It ensures that each expert or member of the various divisions or sections of the organization is well trained and monitored by a division head, who is often a super expert in the same field and who leads projects for which a particular division or unit has responsibility. The other is executive in nature—envisioning and getting products and projects completed by the experts. Ultimately, this executive function is usually the responsibility of the chairman of the department. It requires sensing the needs of the individuals within it and of the external environment and, often, ensuring adaptation to those needs to enable the success of the organization as a whole.

Organizations in medicine—and, therefore, physician training in medicine—have, of necessity, evolved constantly over the past forty years during the lifetime of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine. The need for adaptation has required capable leaders to recognize and implement needed change in order for their departments to survive and be successful. This book focuses upon those leaders, the timeliness of their presence, their unique skills, and their accomplishments.

January 25, 2011

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Like most authors, I am indebted to a number of friends and colleagues, without whom this book would not have been possible. My thanks to those members of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology who contributed chapters and many other members of the department, both present and past, who shared their knowledge and remembrances with me. Because much of the background of this book is from collective memory, there may be certain inaccuracies, for which I take responsibility, as well as interpretations of the recorded background described on which the departmental change took place. While the book is best read in its entirety, each chapter is written to stand alone.

La Tasha Morgan and Cindy Smith are responsible for much of the organizational work in bringing this book to completion, and for that, they have my sincere appreciation. My thanks go as well to Linda Potocki for typing and retyping the manuscript. I am indebted to Athar Naif for skillfully gathering and recording information regarding the percentage of USF students who have entered obstetrics and gynecology as a specialty, and to Wanda Rodriguez and Lauren Shaw for collecting information regarding residents under each of the three departmental chairmen.

I am fortunate to have had the counsel of Bruce Shephard, MD; J. K. Williams, MD; Cathy Lynch, MD; and Elaine Shimberg—all accomplished medical authors—both for direction and for reviewing the manuscript. And, of course, I want to express my thanks to the University of South Florida for the privilege and opportunity to write about it.

List of Contributors

Larry Glazerman, MD, MBA

Associate Professor and Director

Division Director of Minimally Invasive Surgery

Mitchel Hoffman, MD

Teasley-Tampa General Professor and Division Director

Division of Gynecologic Oncology

Lennox Hoyte, MD, MSEE

Associate Professor and Director

Division of Urogynecology

Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA

Professor, VP for USF Health, and Dean of Morsani College of Medicine

Division of General Obstetrics and Gynecology

Catherine Lynch, MD

Interim Chair, Professor, and Director

Division of General Obstetrics and Gynecology

Michael T. Parsons, MD, MBA

Professor

Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine

Shayne Plosker, MD

Associate Professor and Director

Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility

John Tsibris, PhD

Professor and Director

Division of Research

Barry Verkauf, MD, MBA

Professor

Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility

J. K. Williams, MD

Professor and Director

Division of Gynecologic Specialties

Evolution of an Academic Department

_____________________________________________________________

The Department of Obstetrics and

Gynecology at the University of South Florida

Celebrating the First Forty Years

_____________________

Barry S. Verkauf, MD, MBA

Introduction to Chapter 1

The Age of Innocence

Once upon a time, not so long ago, in a place not so far away, the practice of medicine was relatively simple and, for physicians, very sweet. While the 1950s and 1960s had seen the bitter battle over the passage and implementation of Medicare and Medicaid, that time had passed, and physicians were now paid by the government for providing care to the elderly and poor, which they often used to do freely and for no compensation. The supply of physicians did not yet meet the demand for their services, and a young doctor could hang up his shingle just about anywhere and count on earning a living.

Virtually everyone still knew a friend or family member injured in the Second World War, Korean War, or Vietnam War, and the value of physicians in wartime—as well as their ethical posture in peacetime—had set them on a pedestal. War always brings scientific advances, which are transformed into civilian life, bettering the health and living standards of the civilian population. Physicians were the most respected segment of society. Their authority was rarely questioned by patients or third-party payers and insurance companies, which by this time were participants in the economics of medical practice. Technological and scientific advance was rapid, making work for the physician challenging but exciting to embrace. Times were good for those entering the medical profession.

Moreover, the United States was still competing with the Soviet Union for primacy in the world. Federal funding for scientific research and training of new physicians was still relatively abundant. While the decade of 1974–1984 brought the first oil crisis the United States had ever seen, with cars waiting in line for gas and with subsequent inflation and slow economic growth (stagflation) and two recessions, Florida fared better than the rest of the country during this vexing time. Migration into Florida and growth within the state continued at a reasonable pace. It was under these circumstances that the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of South Florida had its beginnings.

dr%20ingram%20at%20his%20desk.jpg

Dr. Ingram at his desk

Chapter 1

James Mayhew Ingram Jr., MD

by Barry S. Verkauf, MD, MBA

James Mayhew Ingram Jr. was born in Bessemer,