Medicine Forward goes to Washington: a Retreat to Remember

Gabe's check-in 11/15/22

My personal mission with Medicine Forward is to give people a reason to have hope while having fun doing it. —Gabe

November 5th at 9 am was the first meeting of our first full day in Washington DC. It was not going as planned. The day before, Brian Dixon spent four hours in his plane that was grounded in Fort Worth from a surprise winter storm. I’m sure you can imagine what that was like. Let’s just say there was a 15-month-old sitting in front of him who was also not happy about the situation. Not only did they wait, but after all that, his flight was canceled. He was not coming to join us.

I tried to stay upbeat. Brian is one of my best friends and most valuable helpers in this organization. It was a disappointing blow to our plans. I talked to Brian on the phone and we brainstormed possibilities. Could we do anything to get him there? Was that even a sane idea? It didn’t seem like it. So, we pivoted. We figured out a way to get Brian on Zoom with us on the big screen in our meeting space. It was the best we could do. 

We began our morning session to talk about upgrading our culture and effectiveness using Dave Logan’s Tribal Leadership framework. The focus was on our core values together. It was an amazing conversation, and such a breath of fresh air to be in person together working on the future of this organization. We had help from Jeff Cohn using Liberating Structures to get us digging deep for our own core values. Some were expected, like care, agency, wellbeing, and humanity. And, some of what we found ourselves saying surprised us. Words like fun, revolutionary, and love. The team experienced great value in using the Liberating Structures. Instead of a standard meeting with a person in front as the focus, we were all contributing and co-creating something beautiful together. The time constraints, breakout groups, and thought-provoking questions got us out of our comfort zones and default thinking patterns. Rotating pairs got people listening deeply and talking to others they had never met before. It was remarkable. 

It was at the end of the session that the most remarkable thing happened. Brian announced that he had bought a ticket and was coming from Texas to DC to join us by dinnertime. What?!!!

I was blown away. We were all blown away. I had given up hope that he would be with us in physical space. We would have to make do with our adapted hybrid retreat. But Brian had something different in mind. He showed his incredible spirit which reminds me of why I show up. And, it wasn’t just Brian. Omar Shaker flew from San Francisco. Kim Lucas came from Arizona. Jeff Cohn drove from Philadelphia. Scott Giberson drove 6 hours during medical school to join us. Tatiana Prowell is running a full household with her husband in Africa and came to be with us. There is an energy in this team that is like nothing I’ve been part of before. 

Medicine Forward team, Janice Mancuso & Rich, Anna Bethel & Katie Dunn (Improv)

I realized something today with fresh clarity inspired by our time together. My personal mission with Medicine Forward is to give people a reason to have hope while having fun doing it. I want to help docs reclaim agency. I want to help create a world where wellbeing is priority #1. I want us to believe we can actually change the broken healthcare system. I want us to believe it because we’ve done it — we’ve had some meaningful wins. And, we can get more and bigger ones. I want to be part of building on that. I’m flexible on details as long as we can deliver on these. The top wildly important goals for Medicine Forward have evolved a little, but are mostly the same:

1. We are committed to being a WELLBEING-FIRST organization. This includes a commitment to leading with wellbeing as a priority for ourselves, our teams, our members, and beyond. 

2. We are here to have TRANSFORMATIONAL IMPACT. We CAN change the system. This starts with our moonshot of disrupting prior authorization so there is zero-friction for patients and physicians by 2025. We will continue our laser-focus on this issue for advocacy and collaboration.

3. It’s time to GROW THE MOVEMENT of Medicine Forward. We need to grow assets for leverage to create change. This includes nurturing our incredible relationships with the American College of Physicians (ACP), the Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation and the ALL IN initiative, and our own network of top thinkers & social influencers. It includes bringing in others who should be part of this movement. And, it includes maturing how we operate together to be more effective. We also need a path to funding and a replacement for me by next September. No one is coming to save us. This is our organization. It is on us to take ownership of our own destiny together. That is both a huge responsibility and a freeing opportunity. No one has written the script for us. I’m an optimist and I know in my bones that we can co-create a better future together. 

Being a change agent is hard. There’s a lot of uncertainty and a lot of hard work. Some days it feels like the cards are stacked so heavily against us that “how could we possibly make a difference?” Fighting for change takes resources. It takes showing up again and again with loving persistence. It takes time. And, it takes money. If I’ve learned anything, there is not one clear path. This makes our work an even bigger challenge. And, in these tough moments of struggle I am reminded:

“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” — Steve Jobs

As the world has become more and more complex, our status quo ways of solving problems no longer work. We need to face this complexity with bold new strategies and new tools. The magic of Medicine Forward is not in what we have or what we do but in the amazing network of people that we are. I recently learned of a model from Omar Shaker that I think best describes what Medicine Forward aspires to be: a generative social-impact network. I highly recommend the book, “Connecting to Change the World” as a primer on the idea. 

The theme I want to leave you with is that there is no one-size-fits-all recipe for involvement in Medicine Forward and our mission to stand up for our sacred patient-physician relationships. Many ideas were captured in our design thinking session during the retreat. Some people like Tatiana Prowell are avid policy advocates. Others like Brian Dixon and Janice Mancuso are passionate about convening with retreats to nourish the physician's soul. Kim Lucas, Jeff Cohn, and Omar Shaker are all passionate about coaching and personal growth. Scott Giberson and the trainees still feel strongly that the trainee wellbeing scorecard needs to exist. From these themes, I started to see three important paths start to emerge.   

1. Funder / Donor

2. Advocacy

3. Personal Growth

People who are attracted to Medicine Forward come to us because we know the system needs to change. And, our roles in that change can be very different. One thing burned-out busy physicians don’t have is enough time. If that’s you, but you believe in our work and our mission, please consider being a funder/donor to support this movement. Every contribution helps. We are up against powerful status quo resources, and this scrappy bootstrap team can use all the help we can get to fight for change. We have taken exceptional care to ensure that the foundation we have built together captures our united concern for a human future for us and our patients. That is what I get out of bed to stand up for every day. 

Others are directly interested in advocacy, and we welcome your voice and your help. It takes a village! For advocates, the best way to get started is to join our Mighty Network and post about or respond to what you care about most. We need you.

Finally, some of us come here because we know that the most important change happens within us first. That’s a hard pill to swallow. It’s also proven true in my life over and over again. Yes, the system needs to change. And, no, employer-sponsored mindfulness programs are not the answer. And also, the most powerful and important lever we have for change is ourselves.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." (attributed to Gandhi)

If you can’t tell, I’m fired up from this retreat. It was soul food for me. Yes, we did our best to work on the future of the organization. We also broke bread together. We had improv on Saturday night that got us out of our heads and having fun together. I will remember this forever. 

I must close with a huge thank you to Janice Mancuso and her partner Rich for making this an incredible experience. Janice put so much love and care into bringing us together, and her deep passion for the wellbeing of physicians was palpable. I had a little extra time after this wild ride of an experience, so Kim Lucas and I chose to catch an Uber to the capital. First, we went to the National Gallery of Art. Then, we had amazing tacos on 7th St. Kim was the last person I said goodbye to. After making sure she got her Uber to the airport, I was drawn to walk to the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. It was on the steps in front of Lincoln that I closed my eyes and could feel the energy of amazing people who have come before us. Especially, Martin Luther King, Jr., and what it must have been like to be there for his “I Have a Dream” speech. It was two days before Election Day. The news and social media would have us believe that we are on the precipice of societal collapse. Yet, somehow as I sat there on those steps all I saw was beautiful human potential. I saw a girl’s basketball team playfully enjoying the afternoon and getting their team photos taken. I saw families of all different backgrounds walking and exploring. I saw smiles. I saw more that unites us together in our common humanity than I saw differences. I saw many reasons to have hope, and it was just what I needed.

I’m proud to be here and I’m proud to serve you. I’m excited to see what’s next on our grand adventure together.

Onward!

Gabe