Cathleen Biga tells the RCPI Conference that leadership can be taught

“I have been nearly around the globe completely now, and I haven’t found a healthcare system that works,” said Cathleen Biga, during a presentation at the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland’s Conference.

As part of the St Luke’s Symposium at the conference, Ms Biga was delivering a presentation titled: “Leading Teams to Improve Patient Outcomes.”

Originally working as a critical care nurse, Ms Biga is the first non-physician president of the American College of Cardiology and is President and Chief Executive Officer of Cardiovascular Management of Illinois – a cardiology physician practice management company.

At a time when populations are ageing, Ms Biga is focused on the subject of leadership, and how that can best transform access to care. In her presentation, she made a distinction between management and leadership: “I can teach you to manage a budget but leadership is different: it’s not telling people what to do; it’s convincing them it’s what they want to do.”

She encouraged the symposium audience to consider non-clinical competencies that lead to good leadership, such as emotional intelligence. (“It is the key to leadership. Whether in the clinic or at home, understanding who you are is really important”). Using ‘mirror theory’ – depending on personal reactions to others as a reflection – is a way to heighten self-awareness. “You can ask someone: how am I really, when in the thick of things? When things are spinning out of control, how well do I manage my team?” she said.

Can leadership be taught? “I really do believe it can,” she said. She believes around 70% of the education is done during events that happen day-to-day, and securing opportunities for team members to make presentations and contribute. “Not only should we be mentoring our young people; we should be sponsoring them,” she said.

Ms Biga’s presentation was one of several as part of a panel titled “Pathways, Progress in Medicine and Leadership Insights.” Other medical professionals’ journeys were highlighted. RCPI Keeper of Collections Harriet Wheelock presented on the medical career of college founder John Stearne. Dr Karen Dennehy, a Trainee on the Higher Specialist Training (HST) in Geriatric Medicine programme, shared her experiences travelling as a doctor, from treating patients in the Peruvian Andes to assisting South Pole-evacuees in a New Zealand Hospital.

Dr Nataliya Kononenko, an occupational health physician at the HSE’s Workplace Health and Wellbeing Unit, presented on the damage done to the hospital infrastructure in her home country Ukraine during the war. Dr Sarah Kyne spoke of her experience on a RCPI Management Fellowship, and Dr Ali Almajrafi spoke of his experience on the International Clinical Fellowship Programme in Infectious Diseases.

Ms Biga, at the end of her presentation, shared a snapshot of the team-based care model she implemented in Illinois. She showed the structure for an APP-Led Heart Function Clinic, integrating cardiologists with other professionals as needed: an endocrinologist, an obstetrician, nurse staff, a pharmacist and nutritionist. “A patient can come to one place where they receive all the interprofessional help they need,” she said.