Leadership in Action: Tales From the Trenches

Brittany M Dacier; Cary B Aarons; Karl Y Bilimoria; Lesly A Dossett; Byron Faler; Adil H Haider; Melina Kibbe; Ashley M Holder; Joseph D Phillips

doi:10.1016/j.jss.2025.07.061

Leadership in Action: Tales From the Trenches

J Surg Res. 2025 Nov:315:1013-1016. doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2025.07.061. Epub 2025 Aug 29.

Authors

Brittany M Dacier¹, Cary B Aarons², Karl Y Bilimoria³, Lesly A Dossett⁴, Byron Faler⁵, Adil H Haider⁶, Melina Kibbe⁷, Ashley M Holder⁸, Joseph D Phillips⁹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Surgery, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire; Department of Surgery, Center for Surgery and Public Health, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
² Department of Surgery, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York.
³ Department of Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana.
⁴ Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
⁵ Department of Surgery, Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center, Fort Eisenhower, Georgia.
⁶ Department of Surgery, Center for Surgery and Public Health, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Medical College, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
⁷ Departments of Surgery and Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia.
⁸ Division of Surgery, Department of Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.
⁹ Department of Surgery, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire. Electronic address: joseph.d.phillips@hitchcock.org.

PMID: 40885625
DOI: 10.1016/j.jss.2025.07.061

Abstract

Surgeons are natural leaders, but leadership within academic surgery at various levels presents unique challenges. During the 2025 Academic Surgical Congress Hot Topics session on Leadership in Action, we discussed the real challenges faced by leaders in academic surgery across different levels. We review common themes and strategies employed when confronting these difficult situations, focusing on perseverance and creative problem solving.

Keywords: Challenges; Education; Problem solving; Professional development; Surgical leadership.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

General Surgery* / organization & administration
Humans
Leadership*
Problem Solving
Surgeons* / organization & administration
Surgeons* / psychology