They said they don’t engage with the industry

In June of 2013, Cook Surgery district manager Lisa talked with the University of Chicago about hosting a training lab. In February of 2015 that lab took place, and it exceeded everyone’s expectations. Below, Lisa explains how it happened.

My first meeting with the University of Chicago was only possible because of the relationship my CAM (corporate account manager), Lauren, has with the supply chain there. U of C is a very closed and tough group. They don’t take meetings, and they pride themselves on not engaging with industry.

They were incredibly skeptical of our motives and our agenda when we suggested hosting a product training lab. They were concerned that the content would be more promotional than educational, despite our explanation that it would not be that way. We agreed to have the lab on their campus. This involved an enormous amount of logistics and planning for our training manager, Colleen. She executed it quite impressively.

Initially, Chief Resident Dr. Sam Fuller was concerned that we wouldn’t get participation or commitment from his attending physicians. He described them as “noncommittal.”

So I slowly built a foundation for trust. Finally, this past winter, the U of C team really started to see that we were committed to providing the best possible lab experience.

Dr. Fuller told me that even though there were several companies trying to provide a lab, they chose Cook Medical because my manager, Brent, and I were respectful and non-aggressive. They were impressed with the integrity of our word.

I attended a journal club at the University of Chicago in January, about five weeks before the lab. This was a really nice way to engage the residents and to hear their thoughts about the lab. It set the stage nicely for the lab dynamic.

We then began to receive solid commitments from all of the attending physicians, along with their plans for cadaver dissections. Dr. Fuller shared with me that this level of involvement from the attendings was unprecedented.

Dan, the Cook district manager from Vancouver, flew in to assist us in the lab. Dan has experience hosting regional labs. Jeff, our engineer from Cook Vascular Incorporated, also joined us. With help from them, Colleen, and Brent, the event went smoothly.

Because our participants were skeptical of us, we made an extra effort to create a very relaxed and comfortable learning environment.

Jeff chatted with the physicians during lunch. He’s currently working on the next version of the Doppler Blood Flow Monitor and he appreciated interacting with surgeons. The surgeons loved giving input on the next generation of Doppler.

The first key to success here was to build the foundation of trust and to continue to build trust with every interaction. The second key was collaboration and partnership.

Now, I have relationships with University Chicago attending physicians. Whether I see them in the OR, in follow-up meetings, or even in the cafeteria, I can feel new respect from them and they have a new respect for our products. To me, that makes all the hard work worthwhile.