Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast with Dr. Cam Patterson

Dr. Cam Patterson is a renowned cardiologist and healthcare administrator who currently serves as chancellor of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).

Patterson previously held numerous academic and clinical appointments at the University of North Carolina, including as physician-in-chief at the UNC Center for Heart and Vascular Care and executive director of the UNC McAllister Heart Institute.He was previously senior vice president and chief operating officer of New York-Presbyterian in New York.

Over the course of his career, Patterson has received more than $60 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles

His residency, including a year as chief resident, was conducted at Emory University Affiliated Hospitals. He was a research fellow at the Cardiovascular Biology Laboratory in the Harvard School of Public Health and a clinical fellow in cardiology at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Texas, where he joined the institution’s faculty in 1998.

His wife, Kristine Patterson, M.D., is an infectious disease specialist who is an expert in treating menopausal women with HIV. They have three children Celia, Anna and Graham.

We hope you enjoy this episode where we discuss starting a new role as a leader, leading a medical system, and establishing an organizational vision. 

Welcome to Leading the Rounds! 

Questions We Asked: 

• How did you come to be the chancellor of University of Arkansas Medical? 
• Was there something that surprised you about becoming chief resident? 
• How were you able to create a culture in your organizations? 
• How do you go from planning to implementation as a leader? 
• How are you able to see problems as opportunities? 
• How do you keep a pulse on your entire organization and know when to step in? 
• What do you use to guide decision making with limited information? 
• As a leader, how do you decide what challenges to take on first? 
• When do you work to create buy-in first vs making unwavering decisions? 
• What advice would you give someone interested in leadership? 

Quotes & Ideas: 

• “You can create an environment where everyone complains to you, or one where everyone is understanding and happy.” 
•  “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” 
• “Our goal is to help UAMS make Arkansas the healthiest state in the region.” 
• “As a leader, there should be moments where you have nothing to do, otherwise you’re doing someone else's job.” 
• “If you make a bad decision, move on fast and start making some good decisions.” 
• “Sometimes you have to trust your gut, and your gut works best when you have a strong moral compass.” 
• “Leadership is a job that should not have a reverse gear… The reason why you make a change is because there was a problem in the first place.” 
• “If life and work isn’t fun then is it even worth it.” 
• “You will be infinitely more happy finding and promoting the careers of people around you, than promoting your own career.” 

Book Suggestion: 

• Music is History by Questlove