Impact of intensive peer coaching on physician performance

Author's Biography

Naim El-Aswad , MD, is a fellow of the American College of Physicians. He has been an internist and emergency room physician for over 20 years. He is the founder and Chief Medical Officer of Vital Signs Vital Skills (VSVS), a coaching and consulting company that specialises in executive, life and wellness coaching. Dr El-Aswad is a national and international speaker, researcher and educator on physician, nursing and healthcare provider and healthcare executive burnout. He is an expert in the field focusing on the use of disease, as well as several online and paper publications on burnout among healthcare emotional intelligence, self-leadership, coaching and self-care in combating burnout. He has co-authored the book Physician Burnout: An Emotionally Malignant Disease. Dr El-Aswad has conducted workshops, live and online training modules and one-on-one interventions targeting physician and nurse’s burnout, healthcare provider leadership and executive leadership in the healthcare industry. He is currently an adjunct faculty at the University of Houston, providing CME education to physicians and executive leaders on burnout. He is also the co-founder of the VSVS International Coach Federation-accredited ACC-level coaching school for physician performance, which follows the ACSTH pathway. Dr El-Aswad has worked with several clients, including HCA, The Sullivan Group, McGill University, Harris County Medical Society (HCMS), Professional Development Academy (PDA), Methodist Healthcare systems, Memorial Healthcare System, EMCARE and Envision.

Zeina Ghossoub , PhD, is a doctor in Human Behaviour and Counselling, a clinical dietitian and a wellness, executive and leadership coach. She is the founder and CEO of VieSaine, a wellness, leadership and coaching centre in Beirut, Lebanon. Zeina is also the Chief Wellness Officer of her coaching and consulting company, Vital Signs Vital Skills (VSVS), located in Spring, Texas. She is the creator of two coaching programmes and schools that focus on physician performance, on the one hand, and individual life and wellness coaching, on the other. Dr Ghossoub is one of the founders and the first president of the ICF Chapter Lebanon. She is also the President of the Executive Women, an international platform for women entrepreneurs and leaders. Her work has earned her the Middle East Woman Leader’s Award from the World Women Leadership. Dr Ghossoub El-Aswad has lectured on the national and international stage in her areas of expertise. She has taught at the American University of Beirut, Drexel University, Notre Dame University Lebanon, Cooper Smith Career Counseling College, American University of Lebanon, Lebanese American University and the College of Executive Coaching since 1995. She founded a non-profit organisation (Ghalletna) in 2010 that feeds and clothes families and individuals. A co-author of multiple best-selling books, her professional work is well published and is recognised by the American Medical Association, the Harvard Institute of Coaching, Mayo Clinic, McGill University, Stanford and others.

Relly Nadler , Psy.D, educated as a clinical psychologist, has become a world-class executive coach, corporate trainer and author. He is a co-founder and Chief Coaching Officer of Vital Signs Vital Skills (VSVS), a coaching and consulting company that specialises in executive, team and wellness coaching. He is also the president and CEO, True North Leadership, Inc., an executive and organisational development firm. Dr Nadler is a sought-after speaker and consultant on leadership, emotional intelligence, team building, executive coaching and physician burnout. He brings his expertise in emotional intelligence leadership to all his keynotes, consulting, coaching and training. He has worked with over 225 companies, designing and delivering leadership development programmes enhancing the skills of over 15,000 leaders and managers. Clients have included Anthem, Vanguard Health, McGill University and Methodist Hospital System. A licensed psychologist and master executive coach (MCC), Dr Nadler is the author of seven best-selling leadership and team performance books, eight book chapters and many papers. He is a co-author with Dr El-Aswad and Dr Ghossoub El-Aswad of the book Physician Burnout: An Emotionally Malignant Disease. Dr Nadler also has a popular blog on Psychology Today, called Leading with Emotional Intelligence, and a Podcast Leadership Development News with Voice America. He has a free iPhone app, called Leadership Keys, with videos, that guides leaders through ten foundational leadership and management skills. Dr Nadler is a senior faculty member of the College of Executive Coaching, a postgraduate institute, training over 1,500 professionals in executive coaching, since 2001.

Kevin M. Olsen is the Director of Analytics for Envision Physician Services, a large multi-speciality medical group with more than 25,000 providers offering anaesthesiology, emergency medicine, hospital medicine, radiology, surgical services and women’s and children’s health services. His current role encompasses clinical solution decision support through the Office of the Chief Medical Officer, where he heads the launch of quality reporting architecture for large clients and joint ventures. Previous roles with Envision include Manager Clinical Data; Process, Controls and Database Manager; and Senior Financial Analyst. Kevin has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare, quality, education, performance improvement and project management. He has worked for large corporations such as Quintiles, Novartis, Wyeth-Ayerst and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Kevin is a graduate of the University of Florida and a lifelong learner. He has been involved with external organisations that include Auburn University, Perimeter College, U.S. Department of Energy - Princeton Plasma Physics Lab, Thomas Jefferson University, The Advisory Board, American Heart Association, American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin and the University of Miami.

Sara Sigler , PhD, joined Envision Healthcare in 2019, where she currently oversees the Envision Healthcare Research Institute. The Envision Healthcare Research Institute is a nationwide clinical research institution at the forefront of building the future of healthcare. Through Dr Sigler’s leadership, the Envision Healthcare Research Institute empowers clinicians to solve healthcare’s most urgent challenges and ensure that patients continue to receive the highest quality of care. Dr Sigler earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Mississippi and her doctorate in Basic Medical Sciences with a focus on Cancer Biology and Drug Discovery from the University of South Alabama, College of Medicine. She completed an oncology postdoctoral fellowship at the USA Mitchell Cancer Institute before moving to the biotechnology industry, where she helped develop novel drug conjugates. Dr Sigler currently focuses her research efforts on improving patient care, physician well-being and healthcare outcomes. She is involved in a multitude of clinical research studies across numerous services lines. Her personal areas of interest include physician well-being, healthcare solution for underserved populations, development of non-addictive pain therapeutics and improving cancer screening and early detection.

Stef Simmons Stefanie Simmons, MD, is a board-certified emergency medicine physician with over 15 years of clinical practice. She focuses on the research, development and implementation of programmes designed to strengthen the relational skills of clinicians, enhance professional well-being among clinicians and engage teams in the practice of medicine. Dr Simmons developed and implemented two unique clinician coaching programmes, one that encourages real-time reflection on performance by practising clinicians and another that intensively supports struggling clinicians during difficult career periods. These programmes were successfully implemented over a national, multi-speciality clinician group. She is an experienced educator, speaker and facilitator who effectively communicates to clinical, leadership and business audiences and is a thought leader regarding clinician professional well-being, patient-clinician communication and clinical leadership. Her graduate and postgraduate medical training were completed at the University of Michigan, where she served as clinical faculty for over a decade. Currently, Dr Simmons serves as the Vice President for Clinician Engagement with Envision Physician Services, a national medical group of over 25,000 clinicians. In addition to relational excellence, Dr Simmons leads the work on professional well-being, including peer support programmes during litigation and adverse events, extensive clinician support during the COVID-19 pandemic, and implementation and measurement of professional well-being initiatives. She serves as core faculty for the Clinician Experience Project through Practicing Excellence, developing professional well-being content for clinicians, and is a board member of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, dedicated to protecting the mental health of those on the front line of healthcare.