Teamwork
I’m currently a final year anaesthesiology trainee with the CAI. I have combined
my 14 years of medical training with the life of an elite athlete playing with my
home county Dublin. I should explain that Gaelic games are Ireland’s national
sport. The ultimate prize for any player is to be selected to represent their county
and win the All-Ireland title.
Each year the final is played in Croke Park, an 80,000 seat
stadium that heaves with colour and noise each Sunday in
September as the hurling, camogie, and men’s and women’s
Gaelic football finals are played. Many players who appear
are household names, and some have gone down in history
as national heroes. What makes these games remarkable
is that the players are amateurs. They are teachers, police,
accountants and doctors, competing as the nation’s elite
sporting stars.
In 2019 we won a fourth All-Ireland Gaelic football title in front
of 56,114 spectators, just 2000 shy of the crowd that attended
the FIFA women’s world cup football final. I returned to my day
job the following week. I have been fortunate to have been
able to combine the lessons and training of an elite athlete with
that of an anaesthesiologist. Being immersed in, and helping
create, an elite team environment has been a phenomenal
experience and one that I’ve always tried to bring into my
medical career. We are constantly searching for the perfect
performance, and I consider the following to be the most
important lessons in creating this elite performance culture.
Noelle Healy and Lyndsey Davey celebrate with the Brendan Martin Cup
following the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Senior Championship Final
match between Cork and Dublin at Croke Park, Dublin. Photo by Sam
Barnes/Sportsfile
Make teamwork work
“Good teams become great ones when the
members trust each other enough to surrender the
'me' for the 'we’.”
Phil Jackson, NBA Coach.
Medicine is reliant on good teamwork, and many factors make
a good team a great one, including excellent communication,
strong leadership and clear goals. These are all easier in
theory than in practice, more so in high-pressure scenarios
with serious stakes and the need for quick decision making.
In order for teams to be able to work effectively, all members
must understand their role, and be willing to sacrifice what
they may see as their own best interests. If the team wins, we
all win. For this to happen, all members must feel valued, and
their contributions acknowledged and praised, no matter how
minor or insignificant it may seem to the overall goal. Don’t
underestimate the power of a “Well done” or a “Thank you”.
Protect your standards
“You don’t always rise to the level of expectations;
you fall to the level of training you put in.”
Jim Gavin, Dublin GAA coach.
It’s hard to be corrected or have your work scrutinised. In fact
we are hardwired so that the brain processes a provocation
by a boss, competitive co-worker or dismissive subordinate
as a life-or-death threat in our subconscious, initiating a ‘fight
or flight’ response. In order to prevent this, we need to create
an environment of ‘psychological safety’. This means that team
members need to know that any criticism isn’t a personal attack
but an attempt to improve the team’s performance. The goal is to create an environment where conflict or disagreements
are seen as constructive and beneficial to the team’s progress –
‘functional conflict’.
Senior Championship Final match between Dublin and Galway at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Learn from mistakes
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail
again. Fail better.”
Samuel Beckett
Mistakes are a regular occurrence in medicine. It’s important
to be able to learn from these and look at the systems that fail
and cause them, not focus on the individual who makes them.
‘Growth mindset’ should be fostered in all team members so
that they view ability as acquired through effort, practice and
learning from setbacks. Importantly, we should support those
who make mistakes and help them learn.
What’s your why?
High performance is difficult. In sports we look to a bigger
cause for inspiration to get us through the tough times or
gruelling sessions. Representing your family, town or country
is a huge motivator; in medicine it might feel like it’s just a
job, and a tough and unforgiving one at that too. But we
should remember the privileged place that we have in society.
Especially in anaesthesia and critical care, people trust us
enough to give complete control of their body to us at their
most vulnerable times, and guide them and their families safely
through an illness. That is a huge privilege, and one we should
not take lightly.
Noelle Healy
Anaesthesiology SpR
Beaumont Hospital, Dublin
Twitter: @noellehealy