November 16, 2017

Hello,
Communication is key to effective leadership and is a skill we each use in our daily lives and in our jobs.
Being able to effectively communicate and simplify complex concepts is important for all of us in the medical school—those who teach, those involved in direct patient care or healthcare delivery more broadly, those who do research, and those of us in administrative roles. Effective communication in our environment can mean the difference between a patient who understands his or her condition and is able to comply with a proposed plan of therapy, or one who is both dissatisfied and non-compliant, with adverse consequences to health and well-being.  It can make the difference between a successful or unsuccessful grant application or paper submitted for publication. It can make the difference between well-prepared students who understand the concepts we are trying to teach and those who struggle.  Clear and effective communication can help convince policymakers and funders to award funding to our school, or not.
Last spring, supporters of science around the world gathered in more than 600 cities in the March for Science. Explaining the value of science has become a global crusade. As funding for research has become more competitive, researchers have become mindful of the importance of delivering their scientific message in a clear, concise, and jargon-free manner.
Over the last few years, universities have realized the need to develop this skill in students. Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competitions prepare graduate students and others to explain their work in only 3 minutes, with enthusiasm and excitement so that they capture the audience’s attention and encourage the audience to want to learn more.  This spring, Rice University and the University of Houston are hosting ComSciCon, a conference for graduate students and postdocs to improve their communication skills so that they can present to diverse audiences. See the website for more information.
A recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education describes faculty efforts to enhance their research communication skills and craft an “elevator speech” – specifically geared toward a concise description of their science and speaking to the public.
We all have compelling stories to tell—remarkable stories about patient care and healthcare delivery; about the joy and challenges of teaching; about exciting areas of science and the thrill of discovery.  It is important to be able to explain our work to those outside of McGovern Medical School.
As we seek to tell our story to donors and friends of the school, including elected officials, our audiences need to understand the tangible ways our work—teaching and research and patient care—benefit our community, state, and nation. Translating our work into language that is easy to understand makes it easier for friends of our school to share our message with the larger public.
We are fortunate to have an Office of Media Relations ready to help us pitch story ideas to disseminate to the general public and an Office of Communications to share our news internally. However, it is up to each of us to develop our communication skills so that we are able to excite the interest of the non-medical, non-scientific community at large.  Think about your work. Can you explain it in a 3-minute elevator speech? Practice it and be ready – you never know when you will be asked.
A few events of note this week:
Please help me celebrate National Nurse Practitioner Week – our nurse practitioners play essential roles in the delivery of patient care and in the education of students and residents.  They are important members of our healthcare team!
Tomorrow is World Prematurity Day—a day to raise awareness of prematurity and the needs of preterm infants and their families.  This is a particularly important moment.  In 2017, the United States had an increase in our national prematurity rate to 9.8%, with substantial racial and geographic differences.   The March of Dimes provides a state-by-state report card to compare rates of prematurity. Only 4 states in the United States received A grades this year. Texas received a grade of D— we should and can do better.
Finally, congratulations to Dean Lorraine Frazier and our School of Nursing, newly named the Jane and Robert Cizik School of Nursing – what a wonderful testament to Dean Frazier’s vision and the school’s remarkable impact on this community.
Warm regards,
Barbara