With his military background, it’s not surprising that Morgan Gilmour, M.D., appreciates the value of leadership and sees how it applies in a medical setting.

“Leadership isn’t only about leading people under you,” said Gilmour, chief resident in the Department of Surgery. “It’s also about taking ownership of the patient or whatever the task might be, and helping your peers as well, not just your subordinates.”

Leadership, he added, “could make the difference between good care and the very best care. It can impact a patient’s quality of life.”

For the past several years, Gilmour has been promoting leadership among surgery residents and others at KU School of Medicine-Wichita. With Kyle Vincent, M.D., associate director of the residency program, he formed the Leadership Club, which reads and discusses books on the topic and hosts noted speakers on the topic.

Most recently, residents, medical students and faculty packed into an auditorium at Wesley Medical Center to hear former Navy SEAL commander Jon Macaskill discuss the benefits that meditation and mindfulness can have for leaders.

Gilmour, a graduate of Northwestern University, worked as a nuclear submarine engineer for a defense contractor for four years before earning his medical degree from the Chicago Medical School. He was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy upon completing medical school.

He was a first-year resident at KU School of Medicine-Wichita when he noticed the residency program didn’t have a leadership program. In medicine as in many other fields, Gilmour said, people are often promoted to positions of leadership based on merit, but without any actual training in how to lead. The assumption that they’ll pick up the needed skills naturally or through observation isn’t necessarily true, he said.

“Leadership is not just something you learn from osmosis, but it’s something you can work on personally.”

Knowing residents already have “very busy lives,” Gilmour decided to make the leadership training as self-directed as possible. Each year, the group picks a different book on leadership to read and discuss. And once a year, they’ve heard from a speaker during Grand Rounds.

The first speaker, in 2021, was Edward Hallowell, M.D., a psychiatrist and ADD expert whose book, “Shine,” explains how managers can use brain science to get the most out of their teams. The club also read Hallowell’s book. The next year, they read “Stronger Through Adversity” by Joseph Michelli, Ph.D., who also spoke to the group.

This year’s speaker came about after the group read “Extreme Ownership: How U.S. SEALs Lead and Win,” by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. It focused, Gilmour said, on how “if something goes wrong, you don’t look to blame others, you turn your thoughts inward. How can I improve, even if it doesn’t seem to be my fault?”

That lead him to Macaskill, who Gilmour said offered to reduce his fee so that the program could bring him to speak in person. Previous speakers had appeared via Zoom. Macaskill, who served tours in Iraq, Afghanistan, Panama and off the coast of Somalia, now runs a consulting business.

“He focused on mindfulness, understanding what’s going on in our own head,” Gilmour said. “That can lead to compassion and grit and perseverance and qualities of leadership.

“Almost anyone would agree that if you focus on optimizing your own abilities, you’re going to be able to elevate other people to that level, especially if you maintain a level of compassion, wanting others to succeed.”

Gilmour, who will finish his residency in 2024, doesn’t know his Navy assignment but knows it will focus on expeditionary surgery, which combines care of U.S. soldiers with humanitarian work.

The active core of the Leadership Club has been about 10 people, but many others have attended the speakers’ presentations.

“I’ve had almost universal approval and enthusiasm and people asking for more, especially among the attendings,” Gilmour said.

“I hope that the culture will stand after I leave. I would also love to have medical student involvement. It could extend beyond just surgery. It could be part of core curriculum.”