Leadership Lesson Case Study: Preparing for Successful
Negotiation
(part 2 of a series of 3 lessons on negotiation)
Case Study: Negotiating to Expand the Women’s Health Care Education
Program
Dr. Roberta Jacobs directs an elective residency rotation in Women’s Health
for the Department of Internal Medicine. Over the past three years, she
expanded the program from a set of lectures for residents in the department
to a six-week clinical rotation with case discussions in sex and gender
differences in a variety of topics, including psychiatry, medical complications
of obstetrics, disabled women, and health care systems. The six weeks
includes experience in gynecology, the surgical breast clinic and her
outpatient office.
Her division director had been very supportive of the program but recently
suggested that she might need to increase her efforts in activities that
provided better funding for her time. Dr. Jacobs knew exactly what that meant:
the time had come to seek independent support for the Women’s Health
Program. She needed to procure either grant support or contributions from
the departments whose residents rotated through the program. She began
by discussing the challenge with the other members of the Women’s
Health rotation teaching team.
Dr. Elton, the residency program director for Obstetrics and Gynecology,
identified a small departmental grant that would support 10% of her time
for one year if they could design a good educational research project.
The liaison consultant in Psychiatry, Dr. Stevens, pledged to continue
volunteering his time for now but had no funds to contribute. The nurse-educator,
hospital nutritionist, and pharmacy educator also voiced interest, but
each admitted that they were being pressured to drop the activity and
spend more time in direct patient services.
Dr. Jacobs addressed the team. “You know, folks, we’ve created
a seed for something wonderful here. We are just going to have to negotiate
our way into something bigger—bigger for us and for the institution.
A strong influence we have for change right now is the ACGME Core Competencies.
How can we work with that? I’ve also heard that the medical student
clerkship directors are interested in applying for a grant in interdisciplinary
women’s health. There must be some way to leverage our joint interests.”
Discussion Questions:
• How can this team identify the positions, issues, and interests
of the hospital and medical school departments that might contribute to
supporting such a program?
• What options should the team consider?
• What are the standards to which they might refer or upon which
they might build attractive proposals and alternatives?
• What leverage do they have? How can they increase their leverage?
Dr. Jacobs knew that preparation was critical to make a compelling case.
She kept a notebook of her negotiation preparation notes. Review her notes (opens a PowerPoint file).
See how Dr. Jacobs and the team for the interdisciplinary
women’s health care education program prepared for the negotiation.
- Diane Magrane and Jennifer Korjus, AAMC/Faculty Development and Leadership
|
