Mercy Health surgeons lead courses in leadership for fellow physicians from around the world
By Staff reportMahoning Matters
Dr. Nancy Gantt (left) and Dr. Mita Patel (right) unveil courses at 24th annual meeting of American Society of Breast Surgeons.
Mercy Health
Two doctors from Ohio spoke at an event in Boston attended by 1,300 breast surgeons from around the world at the American Society of Breast Surgeons’ (ASBrS) annual meeting.
The two Mercy Health physicians are paving the way to provide the best education and leadership tools for the fellow doctors working in breast centers around the country.
“Surgeons are natural born leaders. You don’t become one without having those natural instincts,” Dr. Gantt said.
Dr. Gantt focused on how surgeons can advocate for legislative health care change to benefit their patients, their trainees, their colleagues and themselves.
She has 30 years of experience in treating Mahoning Valley patients and advocating for their best interests.
“You may hear advocacy and immediately think politics, but it’s not political, it’s simply defending a cause passionately – and surgeons do that every day,” she said. “This entire course was designed to empower surgeons to tap into their natural leadership abilities, their experience as advocates and their expertise as physicians to effect change. We regularly advocate for our patients, and I hoped to empower the course participants to utilize that innate skill set to drive change.”
Meet Dr. Mita Patel
Dr. Mia Patel Mercy Health
Dr. Mita Patel is a breast surgical oncologist and medical director of the breast program at Mercy Health in Elyria.
She led a day-long course on how surgeons can understand their leadership styles to proactively serve their fellow staff members and patients.
“As surgeons, we are all leaders, but approach leadership differently. Whether you’re communicating with your team in the operating room or walking a patient through their treatment plan,” said Dr. Patel. “We created this course to help doctors do just that and develop their own leadership plans to strengthen communication and improve patient outcomes.”
Dr. Patel first created the course after she learned in 2019 that many of the ASBrS surgeon members often haven’t had formal leadership education during medical school or residency.
“We need to be leaders and advocates for our patients, and with specific training in leadership, we can have a stronger and more effective voice to enact change,” Dr. Patel said.
