Expanding Horizons: Why Innovation Leadership is the Next Frontier for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

Article from Israel

Approximately eight years ago, during the International Conference on Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (ICOMS) in Hong Kong, our incoming IAOMS President, Dr. Rui Fernandes, delivered a pivotal Presidential Lecture. He challenged us to look toward the future of our profession. Dr. Fernandes argued that the specialties which successfully evolve, embrace new technologies and ways of thinking, and actively collaborate with other disciplines, including research and industry, are the ones that flourish and grow.

Conversely, he warned that professions strictly guarding old traditions, expressing suspicion toward change, and elevating "what we've always done" risk stagnating and failing the test of time.

In the last two decades, our specialty has undergone a significant evolution, particularly with the expansion of our training and education to include MD degrees. This dual-degree track has provided us with more comprehensive training, enabling us to offer more holistic patient care, elevate the way we educate our residents and future generations, integrate more deeply into hospitals and the general medical community, and forge new interfaces with research and industry partners.

The New Ecosystem of Healthcare Innovation

Over the past year, I realized a profound desire to further deepen my understanding of the innovation ecosystem that is highly relevant to us as Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. I sought to learn, in a structured and systematic way, how to effectively understand and characterize the major problems and pain points facing our profession and our patients;

• how to identify promising technologies in the lab or clinic that could form the basis of a new, innovative rationale;

• how to develop creative solutions and adapt them to the processes required for real-world implementation;

• how to bridge the gap between industry, researchers, clinicians, and the financial, administrative, and managerial personnel within healthcare systems; and

• how to create genuine innovation with real value.

Innovation leadership in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

This pursuit led me to enroll in the Executive MBA program with a specialization in Innovation in Healthcare at Reichman University. I was exposed to a complex, challenging, and fascinating world of Research & Development, medical device and software development, regulation, law, and intellectual property.

I saw firsthand that an entire ecosystem is required to bring new, innovative concepts to life, and how crucial it is to design everything around the patient journey and their needs. All of this learning occurs even before considering the new frontiers of Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing, whose true potential in our specialty we are only beginning to grasp. There is no doubt that these technologies will lead to a massive revolution in our ability to deliver elite medicine to our patients.

Looking Beyond the Limits of Our Discipline

Over this last year, a core lesson of Dr. Fernandes' lecture eight years ago crystallized for me: for our profession to evolve further, we are obligated to venture outside the boundaries of our specialty, and even outside the boundaries of the medical world. We must import new mindsets, work methodologies, technologies, tools, and practices, and then skillfully apply them to Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. To do this, we must continue to broaden our education. We must learn how to learn about other domains, not just more medicine.

Beyond the professional advantages, the Executive

MBA experience was exhilarating. Meeting and collaborating with experts and leaders from completely different worlds paradoxically strengthened my passion for medicine and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. It deepened my appreciation for how vital, meaningful, and even 'pure' our profession is. It was gratifying to see what others are doing, but also to "show off" the unique beauty of our specialty.

I wholeheartedly recommend this journey to everyone!