One of the things you appreciate most in practice—although maybe not always while you’re in the middle of it—is that what we do helps patients and makes a difference in the world. That’s why I went into my field: My role has been to perform cancer surgery that benefits patients in a real way, and to not be able to do that as often is difficult. Surgery is the one place where you largely can close out the rest of the world and focus on the task at hand. There’s a camaraderie between the students, fellows, and colleagues.
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September 2018ENTtoday: What are some of the goals you hope to accomplish, either in otolaryngology, or overall, as Chancellor?
DG: I spent three to four years working on a metropolitan development plan, co-leading an initiative on the economy, where I learned just how important diversity in the workforce is, and I saw the opportunity to bring that into the university. The Lawrence campus is about 40 miles from th KU Medical Center campus, and sometimes that 40 miles can be 400 miles functionally. Through research collaboration, we’ve been able to bring our campuses closer, but there are opportunities to do more. As the state’s flagship university, we have the only school of medicine in Kansas, and that’s a big component of our mission.
We’re also in an environment where KU has more capacity than students, so for us it’s ensuring that we provide best opportunities for them to prepare for lifelong learning. University students today will go through an average of seven different careers in their lifetimes. We must prepare them for those challenges in learning, and for the rapid pace of emerging technology. We need to continue to drive our research mission in a way that serves our students, our economy, and our region. That might include collaborations with industry, spinout companies, and working with other agencies to meet infrastructure needs.
ENTtoday: What do you see as the biggest challenge(s) facing otolaryngologists today, and how have you been able to address it/them through your position as Chancellor?
DG: I think it’s finding the role of otolaryngology in the current environment of consolidation and mergers and acquisitions in medical systems. We work hard enough at that in our own medical system here, in that we’ve had massive growth over the last 15 years. We’ve become a successful department and recruited a lot of people, but we were also able to position them in leadership roles at KU. It’s become our biggest opportunity to help guide the system.