Why Leadership Training Is Essential for Doctors

This episode explores the importance of leadership development in healthcare and orthopaedics, featuring insights from Duke sports medicine orthopedic surgeon and professor Dean Taylor, MD, FAAOS.

Dr. Taylor, chair of the Feagin Leadership Program at Duke and a retired Army colonel, shares the origins and impact of the Feagin Leadership Program with host and West Point classmate Richard Schaefer, MD, MPH, FAAOS. Dr. Taylor highlights the program’s role in fostering patient-centered leadership not just in orthopaedics, but across the medical spectrum. He defines what healthcare leadership is, highlights the foundational competencies that are vital for healthcare leaders, and explains why emotional intelligence is the keystone of effective leadership. He also reflects on his relationship with the late Dr. John Feagin, who served as a mentor and inspiration to many and whose leadership principles serve as the core of the program that bears his name.  

Guest: Dean Taylor, MD, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Chair of the Feagin Leadership Program at Duke University

Host: Richard Schaefer, MD, MPH, FAAOS, member, AAOS Now Editorial Board