USA Health neurologist completes national leadership training focused on women
Minto said the program was centered around mindful leadership, focusing on understanding one’s self (including a personal mission, goals, and values), followed by leading a team, and then leading within an organization while always keeping one’s personal goals and values in mind.
By Lindsay Mott
lmott@health.southalabama.edu
Elizabeth Minto, M.D., a neurologist with USA Health and assistant professor of neurology with the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, recently completed a national leadership training program. After a competitive application process, she was accepted to the American Academy of Neurology’s (AAN) Women Leading in Neurology program.
Over the course of a year, Minto, who is also director of clinical skills in the College of Medicine, completed a customized leadership curriculum and received one-on-one guidance from an AAN mentor to help focus her career and leadership goals as well as devise specific strategies to achieve these goals.
“As a female neurologist in a leadership role within our academic institution, I applied for the program to better reflect on my leadership strengths and areas for growth and to broaden my network of female leaders in a field where there are far more men in leadership roles,” Minto said. “This program was extraordinarily helpful to me in evaluating how I can best continue to excel in my career goals, teaching, and patient care while taking into account the different ways that women can often be perceived in this role versus men.”
Minto said the program was centered around mindful leadership, focusing on understanding one’s self (including a personal mission, goals, and values), followed by leading a team, and then leading within an organization while always keeping one’s personal goals and values in mind.
“The focus on mindfulness and being mission-driven was truly transformative and the experience was extremely positive,” Minto said.
In the 2020 class, Minto joined 11 other female neurologists from institutions across the United States, including the National Institutes of Health, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University, and UCLA. While their meetings transitioned from an in-person to a remote format with the March shutdown, the group still meets monthly to provide support and community to one another.
