Leadership 101 with Dr. Thomas De Fer

Thomas De Fer MD is the Interim Chief of Medicine, the Associate Dean of Medical Student Education and a Professor of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. De Fer is passionate about medical education and has published extensively on topics of curriculum development in undergraduate and graduate medical education. He is the former president of the Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine and a recipient of numerous awards including the CDIM Service Award by AAIM. Dr De Fer completed his Medical school from University Of Missouri-Columbia and Residency in Internal Medicine from Barnes-Jewish Hospital at Washington University. All of us want to become leaders, but is it possible to flex the muscle of leadership during our training period? Today, Dr. Thomas De Fer shares how everyday, all of us, regardless of our seniority are put in positions of leadership, from being a fourth year medical student teaching other students to a senior resident on an inpatient team with interns and medical students. What do we need to practice to become great leaders? Two things. Clarity of requests and stating the conditions of satisfaction. Tune in to learn Leadership 101 with Dr. De Fer. Pearls of Wisdom: 1. A good internist isn’t just a great communicator, but rather someone who can mold their communication to suit the patient in their current situation. Being upfront and honest with patients builds strong, therapeutic relationships with them. 2. Leadership isn’t just at the macro level. It can also be subtle. There are small leadership opportunities where residents can flex those muscles: practice clarity of requests and stating conditions of satisfaction. 3. The critical ingredient that a mentor is looking for in a mentee is engagement:  mentors don’t carry the weight of engagement. That’s the mentee’s job.