Challenges and Professional Developments for a New Chair/Chief

I will never forget this day, Thursday, March 29, 2007. On this day, I came to Hamilton to interview for the position of Chief Radiologist and Chair of the Department of Radiology at McMaster. Although I had managed a large private radiology practice in France and had practiced in an academic setting in Canada for 20 years, my experience with academic management was limited. The weather was beautiful; an unusually mild day for the season, and the drive had been very pleasant from Toronto. The recruiter was waiting for me, and he took me to the large meeting room in the brand new building of the Faculty of Health Sciences. The glasswalled floating board-room was suspended above a large lobby with high trees and I recall noting the beautiful architecture. I felt that I was well prepared for the interview, and as the interview began, I found that I was not anxious because I never really imagined that I would ever have the job. My Leadership Mission Statement had been printed ahead of time and distributed to all the members of the selection committee. I had built my arguments on the basis of a review which had been performed 4 years earlier, in 2003, by two experienced active Canadian Chairs. The review had emphasized the strength of the residency program, under the direction of the program director who, within 2 years, had successfully addressed many of the program difficulties identified in the previous review.