Practicing with a purpose

By Emily Margosian, assistant editor, September 1, 2021

DermWorld talks to Vinh Chung, MD, FAAD, from Vanguard Skin Specialists in Colorado Springs, Colorado, about the value of promoting meaning and purpose at work.

DermWorld: Tell us about your practice.

Dr. Chung: Vanguard started out with just me as a solo practitioner, and it has grown organically since. We’re opening three new offices by the end of this year — for a total of nine offices serving southern Colorado — and plan to open offices in northern Colorado very shortly. We have dermatologists, Mohs surgeons, plastic surgeons, and a dermatopathologist on staff. By this fall, we’ll have 16 providers among the nine offices — MDs, PAs, and NPs.

DermWorld: Why was it important to you to establish a meaningful workplace culture within your practice?

Dr. Chung: I must confess that workplace culture was not something I initially thought about. During medical school, residency, and fellowship, my entire focus was learning how to do the job. I thought all there was to practicing medicine was to know the diagnosis and treat. When I opened up my medical practice 12 years ago, I realized that there was so much more to the actual delivery of medicine than just knowing the right answer. The real challenge is how to deliver care effectively. Very quickly, I learned that even if I’m the most talented or highly trained Mohs surgeon in the world, I am essentially rendered ineffective if I do not have a team that can help me do my job.

DermWorld: What do you think is a key component in a workplace culture that contributes to successful teamwork among staff?

Dr. Chung: A good team is bonded together with trust. Trust is the critical foundation for any relationship with another person. How do we build trust among team members? It’s more than just title and ability; it’s more than just pay; it’s more than just what the job description is. It’s how we function together. You often see a high level of trust in successful sports teams — they may not have the tallest, the strongest, or the fastest players, but those that win championships over and over again do so because of the cohesion that is built upon trust among the players.

Medicine is a team sport. Before I see a Mohs patient, there are about 100 steps that must take place beforehand. These steps are coordinated and executed by a dozen different team members. As doctors, our mindset is often focused on our individual performance. We think that if we’re smart enough or work hard enough, then we can deliver the best care. Nothing could be further from the truth. Relying only on our individual performance will lead us to isolation, frustration, and eventually burnout. When we have a unified team, we can more effectively deliver care and continually find joy in our work.

“Our mindset is often focused on our individual performance. We think that if we’re smart enough or work hard enough, then we can deliver the best care. Nothing could be further from the truth. When we have a unified team, we can more effectively deliver care and continually find joy in our work.”

DermWorld: How does your role as a physician leader reinforce the values of your office culture?

Dr. Chung: For me, workplace culture is a measure of how much trust there is between myself and my staff. I’ve learned over time that this is something that doesn’t happen by itself. I need to earn the trust of my staff the same way I’ve had to earn the trust of my patients. I cannot expect anything from them that I’m unwilling to expect from myself.

Culture can be defined as a specific set of values shared among a group of people. Whether you visit another country or another organization, there are unspoken and explicit values that people demonstrate based upon their interactions with each other. Values are not just what you put in the mission statement that hangs up on the wall or on your website; it’s how you conduct yourself consistently every day. As a leader, I've learned that I need to model and exemplify the values I want to see from my staff — integrity, humility, and excellence. If I do it right, then others will follow.

DermWorld: How do you define your practice mission?

Dr. Chung: Our mission is to make a positive impact on our patients, our community, and our world. We achieve this mission through the practice of our three core values: integrity, humility, and excellence.

DermWorld: How do you and your staff exemplify your practice’s mission in your everyday work?

Dr. Chung: Integrity means “wholeness.” It’s the consistency of character that runs deep down into your soul. What I think, what I say, and what I do must all be congruent even when no one is watching.

Some doctors may see their staff as only a means to an end. They may treat patients well, but their staff poorly. At Vanguard, all providers must treat staff the same way we would treat patients, which is also the same way that we would want to be treated ourselves. It’s the Golden Rule that goes in every direction at all times.

Our second core practice value is humility. This is a big shift for doctors because our long medical training has disproportionately rewarded our knowledge over our character. However, the actual practice of medicine is not just to know, but to serve. Humility is a character trait that allows us to transition from “knowing” to actually “serving.”

In our practice, our entire focus is on serving the patient. I’ll modify my behavior to speak slower or speak louder when needed. Sometimes I’ll speak at different levels of education based on who the patient is. I’ll listen not only until I know the answer, but until the patient feels heard. I have the same expectations from all of my staff members every time they interact with our patients.

Our third value is excellence. To me, excellence means that we can always get better. This is essential because medicine is always changing. It’s not static — it’s dynamic. How we practice medicine now is different from how we practiced five years ago. Unless we’re constantly adapting to find ways to get better with the changing landscape, we will be left behind. Excellence also demands an uncompromising pursuit toward both professional and personal transformation. Every day at work, I am on an exciting, challenging, and worthwhile journey toward my fullest potential. When we walk uphill on this narrow path, our character will deepen. I am a better physician and leader now than I was 12 years ago. And I look forward to who I can become over the rest of my career. Professional and personal transformation is how I will always find joy in the practice of medicine.

DermWorld: How can a healthy workplace culture help with burnout?

Dr. Chung: The fundamental problem with burnout is deeply rooted in the question: Is there any meaning to what I’m doing?

We will never find the answer in any biology, chemistry, or pharmacology textbooks. We must look toward the humanities, literature, arts, philosophy, and religion to even find the vocabulary to discuss this question.

What we’ve done at our practice, through our culture and mission, is to integrate meaning into everything that we do. We have an audacious mission to make a positive impact on our patients, our community, and our world. Everything that we do, even in the smallest detail, is to bring that meaning to our daily work. From donating 100% of our retail profits to charity, to volunteering at a soup kitchen, to taking a team to Haiti, we relentlessly pursue meaning at our practice. I spend roughly 50% of my waking hours at work, so I make sure that every hour spent is worthwhile.

Work is not just what you do so that you can live. Work is how you choose to spend the finite number of hours in your lifetime. “What I do” must align with “Who I am” and “Why I exist.” When they all align, I don’t have a job. I have a calling.

Life is short. It is precious. Don’t ever settle for a job. Relentlessly pursue your life calling.

Vinh Chung, MD, FAAD, is a Mohs surgeon at Vanguard Skin Specialists in Colorado. His work is his calling. His memoir Where the Wind Leads is available everywhere books are sold.

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