Where does the rock go when the rock needs help?
Dr Sreenivas Koka, Dean, School of Dentistry, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi, USA
Tuesday 22nd November 2022 6-7pm UK time
Aims:
In Henry IV, part 2, Shakespeare penned the famous line "Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown". As dentists, our degrees likely do not prepare us to tackle the leadership challenges that a pandemic brings and a profound sense of unease sets in. The tolerance for mistakes is smaller and the stakes are higher financially and reputationally and those around us are grieving for a world that we will never have back; the pressure can be overwhelming. As a result, we struggle to know what we should do and how we should behave with our families, colleagues, employees and patients. The shadow questions of what we should not do and how we should not behave add additional stress. So, at this time when we need a type of help we have never needed before, and acknowledging that leading through crisis requires a special set of skills, where do we go for this help? How do we take care of ourselves? What tools are available to help us through?
Objectives:
- Describe ideal stress management philosophy
- Describe the role of grief when leading yourself through crisis
- Describe three coping strategies for managing anxiety and stress
GDC Development outcome B
Dr. Sreenivas Koka received DDS and MS (prosthodontics) degrees from The University of Michigan. Sree joined the University of Nebraska faculty in 1992, became a Diplomate of the American Board of Prosthodontics in 1995, and received his PhD in Oral Biology from the University of Nebraska in 1999. While at the University of Nebraska, Sree was appointed the inaugural Merritt C. Pedersen Professor of Dentistry. He joined the Staff of Mayo Clinic in 2004 and is former Consultant, former Professor of Dentistry and former Chairman of the Department of Dental Specialties in Rochester, Minnesota. Sree received an MBA from MIT's Sloan School of Management in 2013 and moved to Zurich, Switzerland to be Executive Director of the Foundation for Oral Rehabilitation. He moved back to the US to focus on patient care and student education and establish a private practice focused on implant and removable prosthodontics in San Diego. In April 2021, Sree was appointed as Dean of the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Dentistry in Jackson, Mississippi. Dr. Koka is past interim Chair of Restorative Dentistry at UCLA School of Dentistry and is also Clinical Professor in Advanced Prosthodontics at Loma Linda University School of Dentistry. He is a Fellow and past-President of the Academy of Prosthodontics, a member of the ADA, past-President of the International College of Prosthodontists, and is Chair of MIT’s Sloan School of Management Alumni Board. Dr. Koka has published over 100 journal articles and book chapters and has given a TEDx talk on life without teeth. Dr. Koka has been a reviewer for NIH grants and been a principal investigator on grants funded by NIH and industry sources. In addition, Dr. Koka is the co-founder of the Future Leaders in Prosthodontics (FLIP) and Shaping the Future of Implant Dentistry (SHIFT) workshop series.
Watch Dr. Sreenivas Koka's TED talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf-pYdooGGU