Intellectual Friction: Navigating Disagreement in Academic Leadership

Sunday, April 27, 2025

10:45am – 12:15pm HST

Location: Convention Center: 302

CE: CME: 1.5
Ethics CME: 1.5

Leader(s)

Amy Lee, MD

Associate Professor, Medical Director
University of Texas Southwestern Medical School
Coppell, Texas, United States

Co-Leader(s)

Stephanie DeLeon, MD (she/her/hers)

Professor
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Norman, Oklahoma, United States
Cindy Bowens, MD, MSCS (she/her/hers)

Professor, Pediatrics in Critical Care Division
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Dallas, Texas, United States
Sona Dave, MD

Assistant professor
Zucker School of Medicine at Northwell Health
Huntington, New York, United States
Elizabeth Mack, MD, MS (she/her/hers)

Professor
MUSC Children's Hospital
Charleston, South Carolina, United States

Disclosure(s):

Amy Lee, MD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Stephanie DeLeon, MD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Cindy Bowens, MD, MSCS: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Sona Dave, MD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Elizabeth Mack, MD, MS: VIzient (Ongoing) (Products/Services: Employment with an ineligible company)

Workshop Description: Intellectual friction is a healthy form of disagreement that may result in innovative solutions and shared success when effectively navigated. Leaders encounter this phenomenon often and inevitably, but academic training, both clinical and research-based, traditionally focuses on repair of physician-patient or funder-investigator conflict. There is limited focus on conflict resolution between departments, service lines, or within one’s own cohort. This gap in leadership training may hinder academic progress, career advancement, or affect patient care when impasses cannot be navigated effectively. It may also lead to continued inequity for groups who are traditionally underrepresented in medicine. To prevent constructive conflict from hindering a team’s success it is essential to encourage intellectual curiosity and recognize bias. This workshop aims to provide the participant with tools and strategies for differentiating intellectual friction from social friction, navigating and resolving intellectual disagreements, and fostering collegial compromise for collective growth and achievement.
This session is led by a diverse group of seasoned physicians from varied institutions and backgrounds. The facilitators have held roles as ombuds, clinical and high reliability coaches, medical directors, peer review committee chair, and CMOs. The session draws on proven leadership frameworks and wellness principles that focus on emotional intelligence and constructive conflict resolution to provide participants with practical tools for enhancing leadership dynamics.

Learning Objectives:

Describe intellectual versus social friction and identify when disagreement remains in the intellectual sphere versus when it slips into social friction.
Develop skills for constructive conflict and utilize tools for handling difficult conversations with a focus on productive disagreement.
Practice collegial compromise, using learned techniques for finding common ground without compromising the values and goals of individual team members.