David Julian Martin, CAE
Chief Executive Officer/Executive Vice President
Society of Critical Care Medicine


Creating the Medici Effect
SCCM: At the Intersection of Innovation

The Medicis were a banking family in Florence, Italy, who recruited creative individuals from a wide range of professions and funded their travel and stay in the city. Thanks to this family and like-minded others, 15th century Florence quickly attracted sculptors, scientists, poets, philosophers, financiers, painters, doctors and architects from all over the world. These talented people learned from one another and dissolved the barriers among their professions. Together, they forged a new world based on fresh ideas, and the city became the epicenter of one of the most innovative eras in history. The Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) constantly strives to create this “Medici effect” by mindfully uniting different professions and cultures and searching for venues where they can connect. To that end, we hope you will join us at the Society’s 36th Critical Care Congress, our largest gathering of diverse and creative thought leaders from all over the world.

If you’ve read The Medici Effect, by Frans Johansson, you will know exactly what we are talking about. This inspiring book from the Harvard Business School Press provides multiple examples of how, in the fast-changing world that has emerged during recent decades, finding intersections of diverse thought is absolutely necessary. These intersections are the surest approach to generating and executing groundbreaking ideas that improve patient care in ways we may have not yet imagined. After attending this year’s Congress, you will not only have learned a wide variety of new information from interacting with our broad-based group of learners, teachers and thinkers, but you will see how such intersections create an exponential increase of idea combinations. This explosion of new ideas not only will inspire you at Congress, but it also will allow you to return home and continue the chain reaction of idea generation vital in today’s world.

This professional crosspollination has been seen in recent submissions to Critical Care Medicine, according to editor in chief Joseph E. Parrillo, MD, FCCM. "In the last year alone, we've received papers with authors from such various disciplines as sociology, engineering, mathematics, health economics, veterinary medicine, orthopedics, plastic and hand surgery, and translational immunovirology and biodefense. It's a trend that benefits everyone and every area of medicine and science."

Not convinced? Take for example items as different as bridge foundations and artificial hearts. At first blush, these objects appear unrelated. But two researchers, Ajit Yoganathan and Fotis Sotiropoulos, have found an intersection and made groundbreaking headway because of it. Yoganathan is a biomedical engineering researcher and an expert on the cardiovascular system. Sotiropoulos is an associate professor of civil engineering whose computer models simulate the flow of water around structures such as dams and bridge foundations. Normally, their paths would never cross.

But they have reached beyond their separate professions to understand complex patterns of blood flow through artificial heart valves in an effort to improve the latter’s design. Think outside the box with us at Congress with multiprofessional sessions exploring ways to expand the critical care workforce with non-physician providers or join us at a special intersection where four professional societies will discuss innovative ways to recruit and retain critical care professionals. During the awards ceremony, you’ll also have the opportunity to see how architects, critical care providers, clergy, business associates and others have come together to share ideas and create new environments that improve critical care through innovative and exciting intensive care unit designs.

The Society has long recognized the potential of natural foundations for intersectional thinking and has moved beyond obvious clinical agendas to solve complex problems using this multiprofessional paradigm. Did you know that SCCM has a broad base of members in more than 80 countries? This group includes not only critical care providers, but also architects, engineers, scientists, clergy, artists, teachers, lawyers, business professionals, veterinarians and many others. An open mind and deliberate effort can reveal possible disciplinary convergences, unorthodox but effective models of operation and behavior, and potentially powerful evolutions in idea application. All of this and more is laced throughout the Society’s many programs. Nowhere will you find this to be more true than during SCCM’s annual Congress.

Stepping into the intersection, or in this case participating in SCCM activities, does not simply mean combining different concepts into a new idea. Rather, the intersection serves as a site that dramatically increases the possibility of unusual combinations revealing themselves. Our chances at a breakthrough increase immensely because of the great number of unique ideas floating around and pairing up. For you, the question becomes, “Am I courageous enough to step into those intersections and join a broad base of professionals in the pursuit of better patient care?” If you are a member of SCCM, we know you are. We hope to see you in Orlando, Florida, USA, in February 2007 at the intersection of innovation in critical care!