Chapter 14: Final Comments and What Might Be Next
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Description
In this chapter, Dr. Tweardy talks about career paths for leaders, how his own has evolved, and what might be next though he has no immediate plans to leave the institution. He next talks about his plans for the Division: to stay aligned with the institution’s strategic plan and to address some issues in the internal leadership pipeline. He notes how his division has opportunities to grow through the MD Anderson Network.
Identifier
TweardyDJ_03_20190418_C14
Publication Date
4-18-2019
City
Houston, Texas
Interview Session
David J. Tweardy, MD, Oral History Interview, April 18, 2019
Topics Covered
The Interview Subject's Story - Overview; Leadership; On Leadership; Professional Path; Personal Background; Building/Transforming the Institution; Growth and/or Change; Overview
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Disciplines
History of Science, Technology, and Medicine | Oncology | Oral History
Transcript
Tacey. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Recruit and dilute. (laughs) Yeah, that’s very true. Yeah. Well, we’ve got about 15 minutes left, and I wanted to ask you if there was anything that we’d missed, things that you want to say for the record at this particular moment in time. Now’s your chance. (laughter)
David Tweardy, MD:
Well, no, I have things I want to say off the record. (laughter)
Tacey. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Well, we can do that, too.
David Tweardy, MD:
No. Yeah, I think that this has been a fun exercise, because it allowed me to kind of go back and think about how I became the person I am, the physician I am, the leader I am, and also how the institution impacted me, and how I’d like to think I had a positive impact on the institution.
Tacey. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Well, maybe I have another question, which is: what do you want to do next? Because you’re here, and why leave MD Anderson, as you said earlier, so you’re not going to sit in your office eating bonbons. (laughs)
David Tweardy, MD:
No, no. In fact, that’s the interesting—that’s a very good question, actually, because one of the things that an academic medical career prepares you for is always looking for the next chance, always looking. Then that’s a kind of colloquial way of saying looking for the next opportunity, because inherent in the academic career track is progression, right? You start out as an instructor or assistant professor. You move up to full professor, and then if you are interested in having a broader impact then your immediate environment, be it a lab—then you’re interested in leading, a leadership/administrative type position so you can mentor others outside of your scope of immediate interest, and take on leadership responsibilities. One of the things that I used to jokingly tell people when I was in Pittsburgh was I’m always looking for my next job, and part of that is because I was at the beginning of that process, and opportunities could be at Pittsburgh, but maybe not. Maybe a better opportunity would be elsewhere. In fact, when I left Pittsburgh after 12 years, I moved through the ranks and I was about to move up to a full professor, but I came to Baylor to become Chief of ID, and I was promoted to—my first appointment as professor was at Baylor in 1999. That was—keeping my eyes open for that opportunity was really an incredibly important thing to have done, because it got me here in Houston. And, of course, while I was at Baylor as the Chief of ID, around even as early as two years into that position, people would send me opportunities to be chair of medicine, and I was—so I would—and I think I may have told you this, but if I didn’t, one of the things that has a moderately high predictor of future chairs of medicine is if you’re a chief medical resident. And it’s sort of—especially if you’re working with a really good chair, and I happened to have a phenomenal Chair of Medicine when I was the Chief Medical Resident at Case Western, and I think he—I got the bug then. And so after establishing that I could do the job of Chief of ID, I began to look for a Chair of Medicines position. And so the opportunity to come here was just perfectly timed, and also, as I say, because the nature of this position as Division Head, it’s just—it was and is still a phenomenal opportunity in the leadership at this level. And, by the way, I continued to get heads-ups and alerted to other leadership positions across the country, and none of them have attracted me at this point in time. I can tell you with pretty much certainty I am not going anywhere in the foreseeable future. I’ve been here four years. We had a retreat, actually, because both Bill and I, Bill Atkinson and myself, were in this position in our fifth year now, and we thought a retreat at five years would be a good time to kind of recalibrate, reset, and recreate a vision, if you will, for our division. And we did it just in—kind of just timed it in anticipation of the institution’s strategic plan. So it was well-timed, since we’ll be, I think—at least understand … Bill and I will have an understanding of where we want the Division to go forward, and be able to put that in context of the strategic plan for the institution, I think more effectively maybe than we would have otherwise. But so at this point—I don’t know that I’m anxious to go anywhere at this point. And, as you probably can imagine, the opportunities are like deanships, medical directors of larger institutions, presidents. I mean, MD Anderson President, or being a president of an organization like MD Anderson, those are rare, rare kinds of positions. So I’m not not looking at emails, but I’m not anxious to leave, yeah, at this point. I think that this is a—I still have work I really would like, things I’d like to accomplish here, and—
Tacey. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
What might those be?
David Tweardy, MD:
I think I’d like to really make certain that we are well-positioned within the new strategic plan as a division. I’d like to ensure that we don’t somehow, through some lack of action or some oversight on my part and Bill’s and the rest of the chairs here, we don’t take advantage of opportunities that do arise as the strategic plan for the institution is formulated. So I’d like to make certain that we maintain our alignment in the institution, and in the institution’s overall strategic plan moving forward. I’d like to see a little bit of—there are certain leadership transitions I’d like to see within the Division, as well. I mean, the leadership we have is outstanding, but one of the things I’d like to see is that we transition leadership in a natural course of events. So I’d like to be in the position, perhaps, to be part of that. I’m intrigued to see how our network moves forward, and what, again, our division’s role is going to be in if it will, indeed, expand in the network effort that is growing under Mike Kupferman’s oversight and Mike Brown’s oversight. I think the network is in the best position it’s ever been since I’ve been here, in terms of transparency and clarity of vision around what it’s trying to accomplish. I think that could be further clarified, but it’s in a much … Well, let’s just put it this way: it’s in a better position than it was, in terms of explaining what it does, what upsides are, how each of the divisions can benefit from it, as well as those divisions could benefit the network to enrich the mission of the institution. So I’d like to continue to participate in the network growth, as well. I think that’s a rare opportunity. There’s not many institutions that have the ability for outreach in the network like we do, and I find that absolutely—I find it compelling to see and participate in.
Tacey. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
David Tweardy, MD:
No, I think that’s good. (laughter)
Tacey. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Well, this has been a lot of fun.
David Tweardy, MD:
Yes!
Tacey. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Among many other things.
David Tweardy, MD:
Well, thank you. I have enjoyed it very much, really.
Tacey. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Good, good, good. Well, I thank you very much for your time.
David Tweardy, MD:
Well, again, my pleasure.
Tacey. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
And for your vast range of insights.
David Tweardy, MD:
Well, (laughter) thank you. I hope you feel that way.
Tacey. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Oh, I do. I mean, we covered a lot of really interesting moments at the institution, and I do think—one of the reasons I thought this would be a great interview, and Marshall Hicks suggested you, and it was exactly what I wanted to do, was to collect the impressions of someone who was a relative newcomer to the institution and bringing that fresh eye, particularly in this period of turbulence. So I thank you for all of that.
David Tweardy, MD:
Well, good. I’m glad I was able to deliver the goods in that area. And I have to say it’s just been a remarkable saga, really, and the good news is I think it’s going to have a happy ending. I love happy endings! (laughter)
Tacey. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
Well, what a perfect place to end!
David Tweardy, MD:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tacey. A. Rosolowski, PhD:
All right, well, I’m saying for the record that I’m turning off the recorder at five minutes of 3:00.
Recommended Citation
Tweardy, David J. MD and Rosolowski, Tacey A. PhD, "Chapter 14: Final Comments and What Might Be Next" (2019). Interview Chapters. 1396.
https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewchapters/1396
Conditions Governing Access
Open
