← Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Leadership Unscripted: Why Showing Up Matters with Dr. Jochen Reiser
00:21:41
Loading summary
Transcript24 lines
- [00:00]
A
Welcome to this episode of Leadership Unscripted at Becker's Healthcare Podcast. I'm Chris Sosa, your host. I'm thrilled today to be joined by Dr. Jochen Reiser. He, of course, is president of the University of Texas Medical Branch and CEO of UTMB Health. Jochen, thank you for joining us today.
- [00:15]
B
Delighted to be here. Nice to meet you, Chris.
- [00:18]
A
Wonderful. I'm so glad you can make a little time to dive into your healthcare journey with us. But before we get into that, could you please tell us a little bit more about yourself and your background?
- [00:27]
B
Yes. So I'm originally born and raised in a small town in the Black Forest of Germany, and I went to a hospital service. At the time of my military service, I spent that in the hospital and was really just taken by awe to see what it means to be a doctor, a nurse, a healthcare provider. Went to medical school in Heidelberg, Germany, and then part of the medical school in Germany is that typically students are doing a thesis. I was so captured by science. It was in molecular kidney disease at that time that I extended my studies to an MD, PhD and had a dual degree. And with that I had the opportunity to come to New York. I was just fascinated by New York and of course at that point just wanted to stay here. And so I switched my entire life and career to the United States and have been at fine institutions. And in three years I arrived here, here at utmb. Along the way, I'm also an entrepreneur. I started a kidney therapeutics company, which is a phase 2 clinical trial study company in Cambridge, in Boston. So I wear multiple hats and have three kids, a lot of hobbies, and try to enjoy life on the little time that I have outside work.
- [01:55]
A
Well, it sounds like you have a wonderful sense of adventure to start out, just having to go molecular kidney disease to New York, to Texas. You've been all over the place. And as you mentioned, you've got your hands in many things and many projects, which is a great thing to keep any of us busy. And we'll cover a lot of that ground today. But what I want to start with, and maybe this is applicable to your military career or some other aspect of your life, I should say, what is something you have learned from outside of healthcare that you've been able to apply to your career inside healthcare?
- [02:29]
B
Yeah. So I think now, today I know that I'm probably a generalist in a very specialized world. When you look at healthcare, it's such a highly matrixed business that nobody would almost go in for profit reasons. We end up in healthcare because we like to do good, we like to impact patients lives and be surrounded by learners and students and, and be part of innovation. So those are the virtues, why we go in there. But nobody can be ready unless you are really a generalist. And so luckily when I look back in my life, I always have had interest in so many things. Earlier I told you I was studying English and German initially, so I was into languages. And then later on I switched to medicine which is more of a soft science. There's a lot of philosophy in there in medicine. And then later I became a scientist, a molecular scientist and sort of like tightened down on the rigor. But if you put it all together then I'm more of an all round person, more of a generalist. And I think that also means that I choose to connect well with people. I spend a lot of time with people in general. I like people at all levels and I think that trade in particular has helped me to be successful in health care because it won't cut it if you just present yourself the technical skill or a lot of knowledge. You got to have the general approach to healthcare and the workforce, which includes all these elements I just summarized that naturally kind of came together in my life and without knowing have set me up well for this job.
- [04:21]
A
Okay, let's dive a little bit deeper on what you mentioned is the soft science of medicine. And clearly now everywhere you look you can find information on how data is affecting how healthcare is being practiced and furthered and grown. Right. So when you look at the soft science, how does that come into play in your day to day life as a leader in healthcare?
- [04:45]
B
Yeah, I think by soft signs I mean of course to adhere to the guidelines, of course to be compliant when it comes to taking medicines and tests follow ups. But we also know that unless a physician builds a physician patient relationship or a mentor in the lab has a good relationship with a student, which also allows for words like excitement, connection, all of those components to be part of it, the enterprise or the encounter is not really productive. And there are studies that show that even if you prescribe the same drug with two different providers, one that is one that connects and the other one not so much, the results can be pretty different. And so I think that the human connection in what we do is something that I value a lot. And obviously it has to be paired with scientific knowledge and accuracy and high quality and safety of care delivery, all of that. But the human component is something I cherish. And at ugmb, I'm proud to say that in the last almost three years that I've been here leading the place, we have doubled down on that component. We have a very strong culture. People like to be here, people work together. And I think we are pretty connected as an organization of a very significant size. And I pride myself for being sort of like at the helm to push and allow for such a culture to thrive.
- [06:28]
A
That's well said, Jochen. I think that my own company does a very good job of growing its culture, and I feel fortunate to be part of that, and I'm glad that it's part of UTMB as well. Jochen, if you're going to connect with people, you got to keep yourself healthy. So that's just a very general and basic requirement. As you're doing that, what do you think is important for you to do in terms of keeping yourself healthy, whether it be physically, mentally, emotionally? What's important to you when you're not being an entrepreneur running a health care organization like utmb?
- [07:05]
B
I'm glad you're asking that question. It's very easy and often the case, unfortunately, that we forget about ourselves, our own personal health. So luckily, so far I've been blessed with good health. But I would say in the last three years of this job in particular, I had less and less time to exercise. I had so many dinners and I'm having so many dinners that I was required to be pretty disciplined when it comes to what I leave on the table and what I don't touch. And I needed enough sleep even though there was less and less time. So I made a decision eight months ago to really focus more on my personal health and have started a personalized training program. So multiple times a week I do early exercise with a trainer. Often that's at 5am in the morning. I have changed my nutrition to be more grain friendly, but also higher protein intake. And I'm blessed with good mental health. There was a time when I was younger where I, like many, perhaps had my worries and maybe we would call that anxiety at times. But luckily in the last 15 years, I really moved away from that because I felt a comfort in so many people being more freely able to talk about their mental conditions and how they feel. So it had become more accepted. So today I do a lot that focuses on physical health, mental health and emotional health. Emotionally, I have a wonderful fiance and three children, and I'm drawing a lot of positive energy from that. I also stay in touch with my German family, my sister and my parents that routinely I find five or 10 minutes a day where we do a WhatsApp call and just check in on each other. And some of the topics we discuss can be rather trivial. But that is bringing me back to the origin of just what it means to be a human. So all in, I feel pretty strong right now. And the rest is done by utmb, which so graciously has accepted me as a leader and welcomed me to the family. And I feel really good within the entire UT system, in particular at utmb.
- [09:34]
A
Yeah, I would say never underestimate the regenerative power of speaking about and think about things that are not related to work. I think that can help us all energize. Right. Yoga. Do you consider yourself a morning person? You say you get up at 5am to exercise.
- [09:50]
B
I would say I'm a disciplined person. I have good executive functioning. So it's not that I wake up all smiles at 4:30 and look forward to my exercise, but I know that when I do do it I will feel better in an hour. And that just gets me going. And I have learned over the years, I'm sure you have had that experience too, that once you set the first foot into the shower and have a sip of coffee or whatever works for you, things change. And so I have very good executive functioning. And it brings me to a point I wanted to make. What else I have learned outside healthcare is really showing up is 70, 80% of everything and showing up with a routine and the discipline. And I think that is so important because it is, I think one of the most important lessons to learn as a young person growing up that showing up is a lot of being successful.
- [10:55]
A
I have no doubt that that is true. Jochen, you mentioned how you're not necessarily all smiles at 4:30. I think a lot of us can relate to that. But in general we're all going to have days where we're not necessarily feeling our best if we're doing all sorts of exercise and focusing on making sure that we are healthy. Correct. So on those days when you might not be feeling quite your best, what do you do? Who do you turn to? Say, you know what, here's how I can get back on track.
- [11:28]
B
Yeah, I think it's calling one of my children, just hearing their voice, it is reading. I'm always reading two types of books. I'm not the best reader, but again I'm a consistent reader. I read sort of like a self improvement book of some sort and then I read some fiction or historical books that describe some person's lives. And so just sometimes I just go into one or two pages and refocus my mind on something completely different. And it works a little bit like a reset. It takes me into something completely different, and it helps me to reboot in perhaps a strange way. But I'm very good in having sort of brain skills and mental skills that help to redirect me. And then my optimism that is just in me, and I don't think that will ever change, just takes over. And with that, you know what? Maybe the sun is beginning to rise outside, and here I am. Switch is turned. And so I think it's important to recognize that when we don't feel well, that it's a normal feeling that all of us are going through. But instead of just dwelling on that feeling, do something about it and try different things. And so I have some, as I described, I have a few routines that typically work very well.
- [13:01]
A
What books are you reaching for when you need an escape in particular?
- [13:06]
B
Well, I think right now I read a book called the Generalist in a Specialized World.
- [13:14]
A
Sounds very apropos for you.
- [13:17]
B
Yes. And strangely, I find a lot of the components in this book that speak to me. And then I also like to read books that have touched my life in ways I wasn't quite so sure. So my sister sent me a book in German, which was what people were doing after World War II, 10 years after how they rebuilt their lives in Germany, and whole different ethnic groups, Some came back, some left. How did it actually work? And it never dawned on me how confusing the time was after the war, because we always talk what happened in the war, which is, of course, absolutely terrible. No words can describe that. But the time after the war is a very interesting time. And it helps me understand how my grandparents, my parents, and many others came back to being functional human beings and sort of like, started new lives. And it's just something that I wouldn't be necessarily aware of. And so I enjoy being taken into a completely different world and try to connect it to what that means for me today.
- [14:33]
A
Jochen, you've mentioned any number of things that are related to remaining a lifelong learner. I think many healthcare leaders in particular would find this a very important trait. And you've told us a lot about yourself and your optimism, which I hope is very contagious wherever you go, by the way. But what would you say is something else that you've learned about yourself now that you've been working in healthcare for a number of years?
- [14:59]
B
Yeah, I think academic healthcare and healthcare in general is, as I said earlier, is a very convoluted business. We hold ourselves not fully accountable all the time. So I wanted to live more in that accountability line, which means act with more speed and more clear purpose, but also have the passion. And so we also rebranded at utmb and you might have known that our tagline is now where purpose meets passion. And I think those are very important two components. One is sort of like the business side and really make decisions and allow yourself to also make perhaps a decision that you later on have to correct in some way. Hopefully not regret. But correction of an approach is totally normal and in my world is a lot better than being hesitant and not doing anything really and just move one piece from the right to the left. And I do think there are quite some institutions still out there that function by that and that doesn't make them bad institution, but it's just not adapting as fast as they possibly could. But the other part is the passion side. So find a true north of why you're doing what you're doing and define it other than financial success or just growth. Find the passion piece. Can you create better care models? Can you find ways of reaching people that normally wouldn't have access to care? Can you bring science into the daily routine of primary care? And all of that is passion. And so if you bring those two things together, great things are happening. I typically have functioned like that, obviously now with a lot more responsibility than before. My decisions have more weight and I'm aware of that. But I generally believe that hesitation is failure. I think if you make this somewhat your guiding principle, then based on good data, based on advice from others, it is expected of CEOs and presidents to actually act. And I'm doing that to take projects forward, but recognizing that we are to obtain continuous input and correct if necessary. So hesitation is failure. I say it again, it's a term that I created and I try to live by it.
- [17:42]
A
Joke. I'm so glad that you mentioned that aspect of decision making and how it's important to act in the face of sometimes obvious risk, even if you have to course correct later on. Risk is inherent in just about everything that we do, for better or worse, honestly. But that does lead me to my next question, and that is, and clearly you've taken a number of risks in your life, so. But is there, are there any risks that stand out to you that you think have paid off in particular?
- [18:15]
B
Well, I would say coming to America was certainly a key piece of of my life. It was a very quick decision. My PhD mentor at that time decided to go to the US overnight, literally. And I had another year in my PhD thesis, so I decided to come with him. And then I took the USMLES to get ready for American training, which later I did in internal medicine and then nephrology. And the test that I took was very, in short order coming up. So I didn't really have a lot of preparation time and I passed, obviously the test. But if I think in retrospect, would I sign up for any six hour exam where I have like a week of preparation time beforehand in a different language? Probably not. But thank God I did that because that gave me the timeline to make all of this happening. And so it's just one good example. I typically don't overthink some goals when I feel strong about the purpose and the passion and I'm just going to go for it. And then I show up and I was prepared and I passed. Now, I certainly think this was one of my better decisions in life to come here. The other part is obviously my family. And I'm not just saying that because how can you not say anything nice about your family. It's not that. But when you have a professional career that has so many busy aspects, in my case, as somebody who traded continents, science, clinical medicine, entrepreneurship in biotech, when is there time for a family? And the answer is there's no time for thinking this through. You just go for it and it happens. And now I have three adult children and it's truly the best part of my life, whatever happened to me. And so not overthink critical things in life and just go for it and let them happen and then build your life around it. You can apply the same thing to leading academic medicine. You can make a decision. Let's talk about AI implementation, okay? Instead of thinking this through and through and through again, you just make the decision, you know what, let's do it. And then once it's there, you build the rest around it as you go. And it's refreshing for everybody if you do it because there's nothing you can plan 100% anyway. And so I've started to learn that and I've sort of like led with that example. And that has made places where I went through always in the areas that I controlled, always more nimble and quite frankly, more fun.
- [21:13]
A
Yogi, I think that is the perfect place to end this podcast. I mean, your passion is just shined through, shown through this entire conversation, and we can't wait to share it with our audience. And I'm sure we're going to run into you, cross paths with you again and I look forward to the next time that happens.
- [21:27]
B
Joken I really enjoyed that conversation. I feel like we could continue for another hour, but both of our days are busy. Hopefully next time. Thank you very much Chris. Enjoyed it.