Midwest Surgical Association: Presidential Address
Team spirit
Roxie M. Albrecht, M.D., F.A.C.S., F.C.C.M.*
Department of Surgery, University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, PO Box 26901, WP-2140, Oklahoma City, OK
73126-0901, USA
KEYWORDS:
Leadership;
Team evaluation;
Simulation;
Rural trauma team
development;
Situational awareness
It has been an honor to be able to work for this associ-
ation, with the team of officers, with Marsha Langstraat, the
prior Clearinghouse Director, our current meeting planners
at LPetc, and so on. I value this association immensely. I
treasure the family-friendly atmosphere, and I knew from my
first meeting when I was a 2nd-year resident that this was
going to be a yearly tradition no matter where I was or what
was going on in my life. I enjoy the scientific sessions, case
presentations, opportunities for residents, and the lifelong
friendships that have developed from the meetings. I really am
awestruck that I am giving an address to an association mem-
bership that I cherish so much and that has had so many great
talented presidents who provided thoughtful and inspiring ad-
dresses. I hope that in this address I can pay due tribute to the
association by blending in the contributions from some of the
Midwest Surgery members who have inspired the components
of leadership and team spirit.
The team topic was introduced by Don Moorman’s ad-
dress in 2004 when he discussed the medical team training
initiative at Beth Israel Deaconess in Boston, MA.
1
The
concept we heard at that time was not new to areas outside
of medicine. Industry, military, aviation, air traffic control,
and nuclear power plants all have developed team training
initiatives that included crew resource management, leader-
ship, situational awareness, and communication. These ini-
tiatives allowed medical teams to adapt components and
concepts to multiple unique medical specialty areas. The
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical
School adapted and applied the concepts of crew resource
management principles when training 220 staff members in
the field of obstetrics. The program resulted in a 25.4%
reduction in the Adverse Outcomes Index, a 13.4% reduc-
tion in the severity of adverse events, and improved overall
safety and quality.
2
Medical team training programs have grown, expanded,
and been promulgated as TeamSTEPPS by the Department
of Defense in collaboration with the Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality and the American Institutes for Re-
search. The National Implementation of the TeamSTEPPS
Project has established team training resource centers
around the country that conduct master trainer training
courses in this concept. Team performance is depicted with
a 2-way dynamic interplay between 4 skills (ie, leadership,
situation monitoring, mutual support, and communication)
and the 3 team-related outcomes (ie, knowledge, attitudes,
and performance). Interaction between the outcomes and
skills is the basis of a team striving to deliver timely, safe,
and quality care. I have taken the liberty to use the 4 skills
of the TeamSTEPPS for organization of this address.
Presented at the 54th Annual Meeting of the Midwest Surgical Asso-
ciation, Galena, IL, August 7–9, 2011
* Corresponding author. Tel.: ϩ1-405-271-5781; fax: ϩ1-405-271-
3919.
E-mail address: Roxie-Albrecht@ouhsc.edu
0002-9610/$ - see front matter © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.amjsurg.2011.12.003
The American Journal of Surgery (2012) 203, 277–281