Raymond G. Elmore is an experienced, licensed practitioner who has been living in the picturesque city of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and specializing in obstetrics and gynecology for more than 15 years. The leadership position and career of Dr. Elmore have been fueled by a high sense of duty to improve women’s healthcare as he enjoys remarkable qualifications, broad work experience developed in elite institutions, and outstanding people-management skills.
Starting from the University of Texas in Austin, he graduated from the rigorous Plan II Honors Program. This firm base was a strong foundation for the next stage of his education. It all began in 2006 after Dr. Elmore was awarded a prestigious medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX.
Dr. Elmore then moved to California to complete a thorough four-year obstetrics and gynecology residency program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. This practical experience improved not only his abilities but also gave him the necessary background to succeed in obstetrics and gynecology. Having ended his residency in 2010, Dr. Elmore left to work as a both a clinician and medical director in New Mexico and Florida. In these positions, he worked to prove he is a versatile, ready-to-adapt physician-leader.
Apart from the clinic, Dr. Raymond G. Elmore has grown as an administrator in healthcare systems. Significantly, he was the Medical Director at the Presbyterian healthcare system in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he helped to develop women’s services in Santa Fe Another evidence of his dedication to raising the standards in healthcare is that served as Director of Perinatal Safety at Advent Health, located in Ocala, Florida.
To meet his relentless search for perfection, Raymond G. Elmore opted to improve on his current academic credentials. In the spring of 2023 he received a Master’s Science degree in Healthcare Leadership from Brown University. This advanced degree allows him to learn critical thinking, communication, and leadership skills in a manner that can be translated across multiple segments of the healthcare industry.
Dr. Elmore’s commitment to the progress of medical science does not just include time spent in clinical work. During his medical school and residency training he participate and authored clinical research articles, with a particular focus on the treatment of ovarian cancer. This research allowed him to present his research looking into the effect of cholesterol lowering medications, also known as statins, on ovarian cancer survival rates at the National Conference for the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists in Tampa, FL. Moreover, Dr. Elmore shares his wealth of knowledge through articles on LinkedIn, covering pertinent topics such as the maternal healthcare crisis, vaccine hesitancy, insurance denials, and physician unionization.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
Currently, I am working on locum tenens opportunities while I start to look for positions that fit my plans for a career pivot after graduating from Brown University with a Master of Science in Healthcare Leadership. Right now I am really working to increase my understanding of the healthcare systems in a more integrative and holistic way and extend my scope outside of just the women’s health arena.
How do you bring ideas to life?
In all of my previous positions, I have always tried to focus on integration and collaboration. Historically, I have accomplished that through my work in the hospital and clinic. But now, I am trying to build a diverse network of people in various healthcare industries and then leverage those relationships to try and highlight some of the issues that I am passionate about.
What’s one trend that excites you?
I have a lot of hope and excitement around all of the focus and investment and maternal health. Remote patient monitoring (RPM) has been slow to penetrate the maternal health arena, but that is changing rapidly and could be a significant tool to improve health equity and outcomes.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
I try to curate the different types of content I am reading to ensure that I am getting information that is beyond my specialty and when I run into a term or concept that is unfamiliar to me, I make it a point to reach out to a contact or other resource to fill in that knowledge gap.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Slow down.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you.
There is no life after death.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
In any interaction, clinical or non-clinical, I am always trying to make sure that I actively listen, connect, and understand the other person or persons.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
I have learned that I am someone that needs to take whatever I am working on and take it in chunks and give myself some time and space to keep myself from being too hyper focused and myopic. Otherwise, I can miss out on those creative, out-of-the-box solutions.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
I have always worked for large, integrated healthcare systems, so I didn’t have to grow my business per se. But I have always maintained the mindset that I want to understand every aspect of healthcare as it relates to what I do. If I am missing something during a surgical case, then I immediately set out to understand our supply chain process. If I can’t get a needed service for a patient, I want to know the financial and administrative barriers to getting that done. Ideally, I want to have a good working understanding of every process that I interact with on a daily basis.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
I had a period of time where I got into an unhealthy work-life balance where I suffered from severe burnout. I was so focused on accomplishing my goals at work that I lost perspective and my health and my relationship with my family suffered. At the time, deep in burnout, I perceived working harder and longer as the only solution. With some time, space, and clarity, I realize that balance and whole-person health (mind, body, spirit) are what I need as a foundation for success, personally and professionally.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
For me, I use several different electronic medical record (EMR) systems. All have strengths and weaknesses, but, for me, I have realized that front-loading my time with learning the EMR and tailoring it to my clinical practice is critical to my ability to work efficiently and have time to connect and communicate with my patients.
What is the best $100 you recently spent?
Harvard Business Review online subscription. Great source for quick, digestible pieces that help me build my leadership, communication, and management skills.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast from which you’ve received much value?
I just read “Unreasonable Hospitality” and think it is full of well-communicated insights that are easily translatable to any industry.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
Despite having a complete inability to carry a tune, I sing all the time in the car and shower. I really like singing competition shows and The Voice is my all-time favorite.
Key learnings:
- Create a personal learning program for yourself that is used daily, is easily digestible, and is diverse with content beyond your industry.
- Never sacrifice a healthy work-life balance, if you do your work and your personal life will both end up suffering.
- Start creating a network of mentors and cultivating those relationships. That group will be one of your biggest sources of support and guidance as you face successes and setbacks in your professional and personal life.
Steve (Stefan) Junge hails from Germany and helps with the day-to-day publishing of interviews on IdeaMensch. While he and Mario don’t share a favorite soccer club, their enthusiasm to help entrepreneurs is a shared passion.