Digital Transformation Opportunities in the Classroom (ft. Christopher King, PhD)

DGTL Voices with Ed Marx

In this episode of DGTL Voices, Ed welcomes Dr. Christopher King, the Dean of Georgetown University School of Health, to discuss the importance of education in healthcare leadership and the focus on social justice and well-being. Christopher emphasizes the need for systems thinking and the integration of technology for good in healthcare and highlights the significance of networking, establishing a professional brand, and practicing humility in leadership roles.   Takeaways
  • Education in healthcare leadership should focus on social justice and well-being, and incorporate systems thinking and the integration of technology for good.
  • Networking and establishing a professional brand are essential for career advancement and making meaningful connections in the industry.
  • Humility is a crucial trait for leaders, as it allows for better understanding and empathy towards individuals and communities.
  • Optimism and spirituality are important for leaders to maintain a positive outlook and inspire others.
  • Georgetown University School of Health aims to train students to be reflective lifelong learners, responsible participants in civic life, and engaged in service to others.
2024-07-17 32 min Transcript

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Transcript

Ed (00:01.102)
Hey everyone, it's Ed here. Welcome to another episode of Digital Voices. So glad you joined us. I know you have a lot of choices. There's so many good podcasts out there. I listen to a bunch of them myself. You've chosen some time to spend with us and we're going to make it worth your while. We are commercial free, all content, so you don't have to worry about hitting the fast forward button as we get into it. So I'm super excited about this episode because we have Dr. Christopher King with us. Dr. King or Christopher, welcome to Digital Voices.

christopher (00:31.13)
Thanks Ed, it's a pleasure to be with you.

Ed (00:33.71)
Why this is exciting. There's many reasons, but one for sure. We haven't really tackled this topic yet on digital voices after over 200 and some episodes. We have talked about education a little bit, but never talked to a Dean. And that's really cool. And Georgetown, which is a double whammy, like this amazing school and talking about, you know, digital in leadership and what, what people learn and things like that. So super excited about it. So you are the Dean of Georgetown University School of

health and you have this great background which we'll get into in healthcare prior to becoming Dean. And so I'm really excited about jumping in. So let's just do that. So that's how we sort of met was online. I see your, I see the content that you put out there. I see what you're, you're doing at Georgetown and it really attracted me. You actually have some of your adjunct faculty, some people that listen to digital voices. So that's pretty cool as well. But the most important question that I have for you, Christopher is,

What songs are on your playlist?

christopher (01:35.226)
That's the most important question, huh? I love it. I love it. Let me tell you, I have a very eclectic library of music. It's all over the place. Now, you know, most people don't notice about me, but I love like techno house music, dance music. That's my default. So when I'm around the house cleaning, I'm listening to music that you just, you can't help yourself but move.

Ed (01:38.158)
Everyone will.

christopher (02:03.514)
And I think you also like to dance if I'm not mistaken. All right. Yeah. Love that. So, you know, I have, I love, of course, Jay -Z is my favorite rapper. I love Dolly Parton. I love Electric Light Orchestra, Earth, Wind & Fire, Barry Manilow. I mean, really I'm all over the place, right? Michael Jackson, of course, when it comes to gospel music, I just adore Richard Smallwood and...

Ed (02:05.87)
Yeah, yes, that's right. Yeah, absolutely.

christopher (02:33.274)
Aerosmith, I mean, come on, right? So I'm all over the place and I love music. That's a great question to kick us off with.

Ed (02:35.47)
Yeah.

Yes.

Ed (02:42.606)
Yeah, no, I love hearing it because I always learn to you threw out a couple or one for sure that I had not heard of on the gospel side and we're gonna add that to our playlist. We have a digital voice playlist and we'll add that.

christopher (02:50.586)
Yeah. Yes.

that's great. Yeah, Richard Smallwood is wonderful. Very inspirational, great music. Yep.

Ed (02:59.182)
I know Kirk Franklin, probably in that genre. But yeah, it's good stuff. So what about your life message or mantra? Are there certain words that you try to live by?

christopher (03:01.402)
Kirk Franklin. Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

christopher (03:12.506)
Yeah, there's two. I have them all over my office and in my house. One is, you know, leave the world better off than it was when you, when you arrived. And the other is Gandhi and that's be the change that you wish to see in the world. You know, you can't, you can't get better than those two. Right. And I believe that, you know, and a purpose driven life and we do everything we can to inculcate that and how we teach.

and making sure that students are pursuing work that's meaningful and they're tapping into their natural talents to make the world a better place. So yeah, leave the world better off than it was when we arrived and let's be the change we wish to see.

Ed (03:57.295)
Yeah, I love it. Super inspirational. We're also creating a playlist, if you will, of everyone's messages and mantras. So we should be publishing that pretty soon. So yeah, let's talk about your story. Can you share with us, you can go back as far as you want, personal, professional, a little bit about who is Dr. Christopher King.

christopher (04:12.506)
Yeah.

Well, one thing, if anyone takes a look at my CV, they will see that health has always been the underlying theme. I started out as a high school health educator. I then moved into hospital administration and org leadership. And I did a lot of that work. I was learning on the job because I didn't have a master's degree at the time. But I was doing work that I was good at. And I had a wonderful supervisor that picked that.

that saw that in me and invested in me and really put me out there and made me take some risks. And if it wasn't for those risks, I can't say that I'd be here with you right now having this conversation. I had an opportunity for about four years to work as a senior director for a federally qualified health center in Southern Maryland. It's called Greater Bayton Medical Services. And that's where I really learned the importance of...

Ed (04:54.734)
Yeah.

christopher (05:12.41)
Enter the importance of integrating public health concepts and healthcare delivery systems of care. What does that look like? Did a lot of grant writing for the FQHC. We expanded our services and included WIC, HIV, did the Ryan White Care Act. I managed that and did a lot of great work for the FQHC.

And then I worked for MedStar Washington Hospital Center as senior director of grants and communications. And in that role, I was responsible for, you know, doing a lot of grant writing. And I always say, I wasn't just, I wasn't, cause people would be like, we need a grant writer. I was kind of offended by that. I'm like, no, I'm more than a grant writer, right? I, I, I am a strategic thinker who can document this in a way that may be compelling, but you don't just call me to write a grant.

Ed (05:58.158)
Right.

christopher (06:07.77)
I am part of the conception of how this actually works. Cause I brought that skillset. Did great work at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. And then in 2010, something we all know big happened. The Affordable Care Act legislation passed and I was recruited as the first assistant vice president of community health for MedStar Health. MedStar is a large player in the mid Atlantic at $6 billion.

distributed healthcare delivery system. And I was responsible for, you know, as part of the ACA, all hospitals have to do a community health needs assessment once every three years. And so it was my function, my division that was responsible for, how do you do that? What does that look like? So I put together a comprehensive community health needs assessment that would be consistent across all 10 hospitals, yet.

flexible enough to meet the needs of the changing community. Each community is very different. Each hospital is very different. So we have to have some flexibility and respect the uniqueness of communities. And that, Ed, was also when I realized, my goodness, we have gaps in skill sets at the highest levels of leadership. Because at that time, if you remember, it was about population health improvement, right? What does that mean? Keeping people well, value -based care, keeping folks out of the hospital.

Folks were trained like that, right? These are new skillsets that are needed. And I was like, wow, I remember the first time using the language social determinants of health at a board meeting. And my colleagues looked at me like I was just, you know, deer in headlights. And I was like, well, we have work to do. And it wasn't just a MedStar thing, it was industry -wide, right? It was like, these are for trying to improve the health of populations. We have to think beyond.

Ed (07:47.95)
Okay.

Ed (07:55.47)
Sure, yeah.

christopher (08:01.434)
the walls of the medical care system and think about communities and how do we rethink how care is delivered to meet the needs of the whole person through strategic partnerships and meeting those needs in real time, right? And so I did that work for about, my goodness, I think it was 2015. That's when I looked in the mirror and I was like, it's time to do something different because, you know, and I tell students this all the time. We have to be self -aware of.

who we are and the spaces that we're in and making sure that we are, there's purpose, right, in that. And I felt like it's been five years, I've moved the needle. I was also at that time ready to go deeper into racial inequities and structural racism as root causes of these racial differences in health outcomes. The industry wasn't ready for that. It wasn't ready for that. And I was, and so I needed to, and I,

So I said, I'm going to take a year. I'm going to take some time to write about what are the new and emerging skill sets that are needed in health care leadership, health care management to truly advance a population health agenda with a focus on racial differences and health outcomes, right? What does that look like? Well, to make a long story well, let me tell you, Georgetown reached out to me before I could even like plan what a sabbatical would look like and said, we're.

We're thinking about restructuring some of our programs, our courses to better align with the future of healthcare. And I was like, I was gonna take time to write about this, but you're saying I can do this in real time with real people. Sign me up. And here I am, what, eight years later now, Dean of a new school. Who would have thought?

Ed (09:36.686)
Yeah.

and get paid.

Ed (09:47.182)
Yeah, that's incredible. Yeah, that's super incredible. And so yeah, so along the way you were getting continued your education as well. Yeah.

christopher (09:56.89)
Absolutely, absolutely. Every day I'm learning. Every day I'm learning.

Ed (10:00.494)
Yeah, that's very cool. Yeah, let's talk a little bit now about Georgetown University School of Health. And then I wanna talk about like, how do you discuss digital transformation, those sort of concepts with your students. So just for those who might be unaware, just a really brief overview of Georgetown.

christopher (10:19.706)
Yeah, so Georgetown is the oldest Catholic university in the country, formed in 1789. So we're a little over 200 years old now. And the university educates people to be reflective lifelong learners, to be responsible and active participants in civic life, and to engage generously in service to others, right? And so we really, you know, we value

discourse, we value interfaith. If you come to our campus, all faiths are there and we value that. That's what makes our community so special. And social justice and doing what's best for the common good. That is a Georgetown education and that comes out in everything that we do.

Ed (11:05.774)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, that was awesome. My oldest sister has her master's from Georgetown. So whenever I'm in town running around by the university, I always take a picture or send it to her. So that's cool. So let's talk about School of Health as opposed to, and tell us too about the nuance. It's not public health, but School of Health. Tell us a little bit about the school.

christopher (11:15.706)
Wonderful.

christopher (11:20.186)
Awesome. Awesome.

christopher (11:25.434)
Yeah.

Yeah, so we were initially a school of nursing and health studies, right? And the end health studies was what is now the school of health. So it was always nursing, nursing, and those other people, the end health studies. Well, who are those people, right? We didn't have much of an identity. And if you look at our enrollment, we skewed female because applicants thought that everything we did was nursing. And so,

Ed (11:54.414)
Right.

christopher (11:56.89)
There are other reasons that we decided to decouple the school, but now we have a school of nursing and a school of health, which is made up of the three inaugural departments or the three founding departments. And that's human science, health management and policy, and global health. And so those three departments today represent the school of health. We will grow over time. Now, we're not a school of public. Our name is school of health. Again,

we're trying to be very strategic and we really want to be a trailblazer in the field. We have wonderful schools of public health all around us. We have Johns Hopkins, we have George Washington, we have University of Maryland School of Public Health. So we wanted to, again, be different, right? In a Georgetown kind of way. And so what differentiates us from the others, right? And again, I'm not.

putting down or disparaging the other. Those are wonderful. I'm an alum from University of Maryland School of Public Health. We ask people, when you think public health, what do you think? Like the lay person. They think vaccinations, bicycle helmets, clean air and drinking water, all that wonderful stuff that's important, right? We need that. We're thinking about how do we change minds and

to value prevention, to value wellbeing. If we do that, if we have a societal shift, Tony Fauci would not have had such a challenging time doing his work, right? How do we go from a society that's so me, me, me, me, me, right? I call it the me -ism to we -ism, right? It's all about me, it's all about us. It's all about the common good. We make decisions for the common good.

So that's the approach that we're taking again with the focus on wellbeing. We believe that that has not had the, wellbeing has not been amplified in a way that we think it should be, right? We know that if people have a sense of purpose, if people are loved and cared for, then that is going to translate into improved physical health outcomes, right? Our society is, right now it's really, it's pretty cracked up, right? And people are.

christopher (14:18.906)
just falling through those cracks and very unhealthy mental spaces. And so how do we evolve to a better society? And so that's the angle that we're taking again with a focus on social justice. Always think prioritizing the most vulnerable. We believe that if we can improve the conditions, whether for a person or a community that is the most vulnerable, if we can fix that.

then the rest of the world will benefit.

Ed (14:51.822)
Christopher, it's super interesting. You're talking about your career and just how you got to where you are. And it seems like already in high school, you had an interest somewhere in your heart with health. And then it comes out in your talk about well -being and wellness and social justice. Was there a definitive moment, defining moment maybe in your youth that kind of got you on this trajectory? Or did you truly just fall into it? Or like, you must have been wired, pre -wired maybe?

Headed this way.

christopher (15:22.554)
You know, it's so interesting. I think about like my undergraduate education and the way that we were taught, you know, the health belief model was drilled out. It's like tell people, give people the right information and they will make, they will make the right decisions for themselves. And I remember thinking that's, you just have to educate people, educate people, and then they'll make better choices. my goodness. That was the norm. That was how people were taught. it's so much bigger than that.

You can, you can, people know smoking is bad, but they still smoke, right? So, so there's, there's a reason that we're not seeing significant improvement. So as I evolved in the field, in my work, it became clear and clear to me that I must be a systems thinker. And again, this is what we also teach in our programs. I must be, if I'm going to be impactful in this work, I must be a systems thinker.

Ed (15:50.99)
yeah.

christopher (16:19.354)
and think about all of the facets of our society that impact how I make decisions, what makes me happy, all that, right? And so that's again, a gap that I observed and why I'm so honored to do this work right now, because our students are understanding concepts like systems thinking, right? And we're putting them through different simulations and exercises to help them understand.

Ed (16:41.582)
Yeah.

christopher (16:47.29)
you know, if this particular actor is impacted, this is going to impact this actor, which is going to have this particular outcome, lead to this outcome for this patient, right? And so we even have a health systems degree that our students learn all of the different players in the ecosystem that impact a person's or a community's health outcomes. We believe that that is how people become more impactful and they're more conversant.

Ed (17:07.278)
I love it. Yeah.

christopher (17:17.274)
They can talk to all kinds of folks about these issues, our students can. They can talk to a CEO or a chief financial officer around why it's important to, why community benefit is important and why we need to prioritize communities that are most marked. There's a financial impact or implication. So, sorry, kind of going on and on. I'm charged right now.

Ed (17:33.678)
No.

Ed (17:40.142)
Yeah. I love that. Yeah. No, you should, you're the dean, the inaugural dean. That is so cool to start something from scratch. You know, a lot of our audience probably already has a bachelor's degree. What would you say to audience members listening right now? I mean, if I, man, if I was in the position, just what you said there about the systems thinking and, and kind of being well rounded, because you know, it doesn't hadn't been like that before. I'd be like,

So what would you say to someone who's listening who's got a bachelor's and they're maybe mid -career? Like why should they, you know, go get their master's or PhD in what we're talking about at the school?

christopher (18:18.65)
I love it. I love it. I love it. Thank you for giving me this opportunity because I always want to, I always like talking about our master's programs and why they're exceptional. If anyone who's interested in again, addressing some of the seemingly most intractable conditions that are just preventing people from being well.

and achieving optimal physical health. If they want to look at that, not only through the healthcare lens, but also through a bio -psycho -social lens, this is the place for them, right? Our graduate program is designed so that folks can enroll from all across the globe. But there's still an in -person on -campus component because we want them to experience the Georgetown. So they come to campus four times a year during a two -year program.

But if they really want to be skilled in understanding all of the different facets that impact the patient's experience, but also go through their own customized individual journey, we call this the capstone project in which they have a whole year to do work that's specific to what's important to them and talk about it like a TED talk at the end of when it's time for them to graduate.

Ed (19:42.926)
Yeah.

christopher (19:46.234)
That's who we are. That's what we do. And again, social justice, you know, that's who we are. It's, you know, care for the most vulnerable, making decisions for what's in the best interest of the people, not just the person, but the people. And if you also are interested in helping our healthcare sector do better, right? We're still grappling with how do we go from a biomedical system of care, which is what we have right now.

Ed (19:49.422)
Yeah.

Ed (20:06.574)
Yeah.

christopher (20:14.97)
to a bio -cycle social system of care. That's the space that we're in and that's where we're gonna do some powerful work.

Ed (20:18.542)
Yeah.

Ed (20:24.238)
Yeah, that's good stuff. Yeah. So yeah, I encourage everyone to go out. I'm a big believer in education myself and married to a doctor. So, all about getting educated. This is, this sounds like an amazing program. So let's, let's keep going along this education thread. I'm curious about digital transformation, right? So that's sort of the, the genesis of this podcast was, you know, how do we spur digital transformation, you know, get people to adopt new.

christopher (20:36.026)
Yeah.

Ed (20:50.094)
new things, but also being aware on the social side, right? Tech equity and things like that. But how do you handle that in your programs? Like is that talked about like tech is talked about and I'm really curious.

christopher (21:04.186)
Yeah, so I think about this from two lenses. One is how do we transform the classroom experience, right? How do we integrate these concepts and how we teach and how we assess student competencies? And the other is, yes, how do we take advantage of this wonderful technology that is before us, but can also do harm if we're not on top of it, right? And so,

And so we are at Georgetown, we, as long as academic integrity is not compromised, we tell our faculty, go for it, go for it. Create really cool opportunities in the classroom for students to take advantage of digital health technologies, test it, play around with it, so that our students are comfortable with it when they graduate. Now we are because as you know, Ed, we,

this technology is evolving so quickly that policy can't even keep up. Policy and regulation can't even keep up. And so we're, again, I just left a meeting earlier today thinking about, for example, AI and where does that fit in our school? How do we situate that at the School of Health? Do we offer a certificate? Do we create a master's degree in this space, right? But one thing that we know is happening so quickly.

Right? So whatever we do, it has to be agile and it needs to be able to change based on how the world is changing and how policy may change. But I think one thing that I know one thing that we've committed to at the School of Health is again, using technology for good, using technology to advance our commitment to social justice, recognizing that algorithms are likely to be inherently biased because they're pulling from data that is inherently biased.

Ed (22:30.99)
Yeah.

Yeah.

christopher (23:00.25)
And so we must train our students how to critique algorithms. We must train our students how to develop algorithms so that no population is left behind. That is our commitment. Now, how we choose to get there, we're still working through that, but we are committed to using these technologies to support what we philosophically believe in, right? That all people should live.

Ed (23:27.822)
yet.

christopher (23:30.33)
a healthy, meaningful life. And so I think technology can play a major role in that.

Ed (23:36.942)
Yeah, no, that's so cool. I can keep talking about it for a long time. I know you could too, but I want to roll into leadership. You're obviously a leader. You're a dean, inaugural dean at that. I'm sure that comes with a whole host of opportunities and challenges as well. And then, you know, your career that you spoke about, you've had all these different leadership roles. What's the one best...

piece of advice you might give someone who is an aspiring executive. So again, you know, the majority of the audience Christopher is probably mid career, maybe a master's degree, maybe not. But they, you know, they want to aspire to be someone like yourself or perhaps, you know, the roles that I have had in my past. What would you say?

christopher (24:09.21)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

christopher (24:14.426)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There's two, two, two nuggets I want to drop here. One networking. Networking is key and it's actually an expectation in our programs. We want our students to, and we, and we create experiences for them outside of the classroom to get to know who's who. So that when they are applying for a career move or whatever, a job that someone knows that name.

Ed (24:43.726)
Yeah.

christopher (24:43.898)
You know, you're not just sending your resume blindly. Like people know who you are, right? So that's one, the power of networking. Of course, you got to have all the technical skills and all those things. And, but, you know, our students tell us this all the time. They write us, they're like, I'm so glad that networking was a part of our cohort experience because people know me. All right. The other is to establish your professional brand.

Ed (24:49.39)
Right.

Ed (25:04.714)
Yeah.

Ed (25:12.782)
Hmm.

christopher (25:13.274)
Right. And Ed, I know you reached, you found me on LinkedIn because I have been very intentional about establishing my personal brand on that platform. Now, LinkedIn may not be your preferred platform, but for me it is right. Whatever it is that you use, it's important that you have a brand. And so what does that mean? It's like, I was talking to an HR, VP, several HR VPs, and they were telling me that, yeah, resumes are cool and all that, but.

we can tell a lot from a person's LinkedIn page, right? Like LinkedIn is another resume. And that's how it's starting to be perceived. Again, it may not be LinkedIn, you may use other platforms, but whatever it is, put yourself out there. Don't just like, like, like, contribute to the conversation, right? Acknowledge people publicly who have been the wings to help you fly, right? Like,

Ed (25:45.678)
Yeah.

christopher (26:13.754)
use it for different purposes so that folks can read that and be like, I get a sense of who this person really is, right? And it could really make a difference when it comes to a manager making a decision to bring you on board.

Ed (26:20.654)
Yeah, yeah, you do.

Yeah.

Ed (26:29.71)
Yeah, very important. What's the most, I guess we'll go to the speed round, because I don't want to skip any of these questions. What's the most satisfying part of being Dean?

christopher (26:40.41)
well, founding dean, that's very, this is legacy work. Like this doesn't happen every day. Right. And so, you know, I tell the faculty every time I get an opportunity, a hundred years from now, someone's going to want to know who are these people that started the school of health, who had, who, who are so prescient about this and got us where we are today, which would it be a hundred years from now, whatever the math adds up to be 21, 24.

Ed (26:45.294)
Yeah.

Ed (27:08.494)
Yeah.

christopher (27:10.586)
This is legacy work. This is unique. It's Georgetown. I'm the first Dean. I'm very honored to do this work. I have a wonderful, wonderful faculty and staff that we are rowing in the same direction as far as who we are, what we believe in and how we can make a difference in the world. So it's very self -fulfilling. Again, it's an honor and I feel like I am truly, truly living my purpose.

Ed (27:36.43)
Yeah, no, I can feel it and hear it. What practical ways do you refuel? So obviously you got a high performance job, but you've got to take a rest. What do you do?

christopher (27:48.474)
Well, his name is Winston and I come home to him every day. He's the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning. And the last thing I see before I close my eyes, he's a two -year -old golden doodle that I am completely in love with. I tell you when I am with my little fella, this little doggy, I can feel like, you know, your hormones and all that. Look, I could just, all of the pleasure hormones, just everything's just kicking in around him. So I'm very thankful for, that's my kid. That's the only kid I have.

But I love traveling. I think traveling is important. It's important for leadership skills to get out and see the world and see how different people live and how different people respect our common home called Earth. And of course, physically, I'm at the gym two or three times a week. That's really important to me. And family, family and friends. Can't go wrong with that.

Ed (28:41.71)
Yeah, people, we're on.

Yeah Always yeah people it is a podcast so we don't share the visual but yeah, you're a very fit person. That's good. That's cool Look, we talked about a lot of things. I took so many notes. We loved some of the Mantras, you know leaving the world a better place and he found it and then be the change from Gandhi and then the whole concept of purpose -driven life

christopher (28:46.554)
Good family.

Ed (29:08.046)
And then we talked about the difference between school of health and compared to traditional public health. So cool what you're doing in the focus. Some of the keys that I brought that I that resonated with me was going from me to we so trying to teach.

Hey, take focus off yourself and think about much broader concepts, social justice, systems thinking, those sort of things. Learn how to critique, very critical, but from biomed to bio -social, loved it. And then also from a practical point of view, you drop really three things in terms of what aspiring executives could do. Don't neglect the power of networking. I'm telling you, Christopher, and you know this, because that's why you're teaching it and stressing it. It still amazes me that a lot of my peers and

contemporaries don't incorporate networking, you know, so I'm glad that you all do. The professional brand, that's another thing, especially I think in baby boomers don't want to do it. I think it's more common for other generations, but professional brand is extremely important. And you know, when you talk about refueling, you also talked about travel and how that actually helps leadership. So that was sort of another thing. So we talked about a lot of different things.

What did we miss or is there anything you want to double down on? I'll give you the last word.

christopher (30:22.33)
Yeah, I can't believe I didn't say this word. I don't think I said it once since our since we started our conversation. And that's the importance of humility. And so in our work, right. And so we for so long, we were taught cultural competence. And I've been on this train to evolve from cultural competence to cultural humility, because cultural competence has this assumption that you can teach people about different cultures and what they expect. I remember.

going to an in -service training and they were like, well, if it's a Jehovah's Witness, then this is what you do. If it's a Muslim, this is what you do. And I'm like, that's how we were taught. And now I'm like, my gosh, we were really doing more damage, right? Each person is very unique. We can't make these assumptions. And so in our programs, and when we teach, when students go out into the world, we talk about the importance of humility.

We don't know all the answers. We can have as many degrees behind your name as possible, but the person in front of you is not going to have the same experience as you. And we can't have our assumptions imposed on that individual. And so it's important for us to recognize that when we're dealing with a patient, when we're dealing with a community, and we need to be humble and we need to be listen and learn so that we can be better.

of the better service to that individual. And so I just want to be sure that I stress the importance of humility in this work. Again, I don't think that's a skill set that has been integrated or inculcated in health professions education like it should. And of course, spirituality. I mean, I don't know how you can be a leader if you're not optimistic. You know, it's like,

Ed (32:15.757)
Yeah.

christopher (32:17.85)
You know, so optimism is key in this work that we're doing. So, yeah.

Ed (32:25.486)
Well, Dr. Christopher King, this has been amazing. Founding Dean, Georgetown University School of Health. We'll put in the show notes how to reach you, how to reach the School of Health, in case anyone's interested. You're an amazing human. I'm so glad that you're leading this part of our industry in terms of educating the next generations and even current generations. So thank you so much for being part of Digital Voices.

christopher (32:49.018)
Thank you for having me. This has been a pleasure.

Ed (32:52.014)
Hey, that wraps up Digital Voices. Again, thanks for listening.

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