Upcoming Event: Kansas City Southwest Clinical Society Annual Conference
I’ve got some exciting news!
This fall I’ll be speaking at the Kansas City Southwest Clinical Society‘s (KCSWCS) 96th Annual Fall Clinical Conference. Over the course of two days the conference gathers over 500 providers to hear local, regional and national experts, in both plenary sessions and symposiums, review basic concepts and emphasize recent advances in medicine, guideline implementation and disease management.
The KCSWCS has been helping medical professional for some time, since 1923 in fact, and is one of the oldest postgraduate medical education organizations west of the Mississippi (possibly the oldest). They are completely independent with no affiliation with any area medical schools or hospitals, and their activities are devoted entirely to continuing medical education (CME).
I’m extremely honored to be among the 40+ experts in the field, and to be one of the two key-note speakers who will present during this conference. I’m excited to share my experience not only as a cancer survivor, but also a healthcare professional (16+ years as an Army Medical Service Corps Officer) and a communications expert.
You can learn more by clicking here. Of course, KCSWCS does these kind of conferences all the time, if you want to reach out, you can contact Ruth Smerchek directly (Ruth@kcswcs.org).
For you medical professionals out there, these conferences give CME credit for the American Medical Association (AMA), the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program.
Hope to see you there,
Greg
Continuing Medical Education and Patient-Centered Healthcare Communication
I’ve spent a lot of time in hospitals.
For most of my time in the military (16 years, in fact) I was an Army Medical Service Corps Officer, and I dealt with nearly every aspect of providing healthcare in locations far and wide.
After a full career I retired from the military, was busy doing other things and then one day…BOOM, I was diagnosed with stage III throat cancer.
Now I was spending a lot of time in hospitals but for an entirely different reason. The world that I thought I knew so well was turned completely upside-down when I became the patient.
Beating cancer was the hardest things I’ve ever done. Period. But I learned a few things along the way, and the perspective I gained has put me in a unique position to help both healthcare professionals and patients alike.
Patient-Centered Healthcare Communication
I have long been an advocate of continuing education and I LOVE that the medical community has formalized this concept into Continuing Medical Education (CME). It’s a way that medical professionals stay on top of their game, and I, like most in the medical field, had an requisite number of credits to fulfill each year.
Patient-Centered Healthcare Communication is my teaching program for medical professionals, and I designed it specifically to work in the CME framework.
What exactly is it? It’s sharing what I’ve learned from being both a medical professional and a cancer patient. It’s looking at the way communication flows, not only between doctor and patient, but within the entire staff. It’s about understanding the patient’s experience from start to finish, who they interact with along the way, and ultimately, how to deliver them the best care. Its also about how to deliver the most devastating news a patient might ever hear.
After a diagnoses that few survive, I’m incredibly fortunate to be here. I had a stellar medical team who helped me through a terribly difficult time. Sharing my story is just one of the ways I show them my gratitude.
This is not your standard CME. This is my life, and this is my passion.
I’m ready. Are you?
CLICK HERE TO SCHEDULE YOUR CME
See you soon,
Greg
Thank Yourself– Videos 1 & 2
For those of you who have been following me for a little while know that I’m all about giving thanks. I’ve written about it here on my blog before when I talked about writing thank you cards. Incredible things happen when you say “thank you” to others and I’m living proof of that.
In these videos below, I wanted to talk about a different kind of thanks, and that’s the kind of “thank you” you give to yourself. It’s something we sometimes forget to do, but it’s no less important than thanking others. So check out the videos to hear about how some incredibly successful people do this.
As always, thanks for stopping by. If you’ve got a trick that helps you to thank yourself, I’d love it hear it! Share in the comments below.
If you haven’t gotten your courtesy look at my book Three Points of Contact, sign up to my mailing list on the top right of this page, and I’ll send you the link.
Contact me anytime at greg@gregcheekspeaks.com or on my contact page for a free 15-minute consultation.
Till next time,
Cheers,
~Greg
A special thanks to the University of Kansas Hospital
At my last routine check up at the University of Kansas Hospital I took a few minutes to answer some questions about KU and some of the themes from my book.
I can’t say enough good things about the KU team, their work has been exceptional and they have truly become another family to me.
Special thanks to the KU Broadcast Studio for putting together such a great video!
Check out the video, and hope you enjoy!
~Greg
Do you want to feel great and improve your health today? Just say, “Thank You.”
I’ve contemplated for weeks with eager anticipation about the topic for this first blog. I’ve got literally hundreds of topics to discuss and will get to every one over the next couple of years. The immediate focus will come from the over 50 topics contained within the manuscript of my upcoming book, Three Points of Contact.
The Pink Elephant in the room is “Cancer Treatment” and this topic surfaces during most of my discussions on radio interviews back in the states and around Europe. The topic of “Cancer” surfaces in my motivational presentations and is assuredly the center pole in the tent and the Grand Finale of Three Points of Contact. I just mentioned some insightful cancer deterring methods in the taping of my iTunes podcast named the Communication Concierge and I promise to cover all those areas in the upcoming blogs.
I narrowed the non-cancer related topics to: goal setting and dreams, travel, communication, enthusiasm, resiliency, mentorship and the universal law of belief. I finally decided on Giving Thanks and the Art and Amazing benefits you will get from giving thanks for this first post. Three Points of Contact has one chapter focused directly on giving thanks named, Integrate Thanks into you Daily Life.
Obviously giving thanks comes in the form of verbal and non-verbal thanks. The power of giving verbal thanks is just as powerful for your health and well-being as the traditional thank you note. This particular blog will focus on the hand-written thank you note. We will keep in mind the close neighbor – the verbal gratitude of thanks.
Your life will turn around when you get used to giving thanks in the way of the handwritten note. I’ve written three thank you notes a day for the past 10 days in preparation for this introductory blog. 25 notes in the mail and 5 notes hand delivered. I enjoy the immediacy of the smile and the reaction from the hand delivered note. If the note is for thankful services rendered, I will hand deliver to the supervisor or boss to ensure the employee recognition and thanks is received by both verbal and a written note. The 25 notes in the mail are fantastic because I get energized from everyone I send.
I’ve pasted below some notes from my upcoming book, Three Points of Contact, on: (1) the benefits of sending thank you notes and (2) some tips on how to write the perfect thank you note ~ Enjoy!
1. The Benefits of Sending Thank You Notes
Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.
Buddah
The benefits of sending handwritten thank you notes are endless. You are doing far more than distinguishing yourself from anyone else in the business world or your competition. Business is about making contacts and the thank you note is the best way to make an impression and also make you feel amazing. Your client, future employer, or just a close friend may have met with a couple hundred people today, you will be remembered for leaving the thank you note and most of all you will feel great! In a selfish way the biggest recipient of giving thanks will be for yourself. You will feel joy, happiness and the accomplishment of knowing that you are making someone else’s day very special. Let me share a few tip from my upcoming book on this unique skill.
Advantages of the thank you note:
- Feel great about yourself – try one today – and see how you feel.
- Relieve stress, which makes you a happier person. Proven stress reliever ~ inner bliss.
- Relieve the recipients’ stress, thus making them healthier.
- Create a positive impact to those receiving your thanks, making you more memorable and making you stand out from others.
- Put a smile on someone’s face. In most cases you will not see that big end result and smile…but you know and that makes it all worth it.
Try sending out thank you notes at every opportunity you get: Thank someone who hosts you at his/her home for dinner, when you receive a gift, when someone provides a particular good service ….the list goes on and on. Starting with the first thank you note you send, you’ll notice a difference in the mental, emotional, and spiritual quality of your life.
2. How to Write the Perfect Thank You Note
If the only prayer you ever say your entire life is thank you, then that’s enough.
Meister Eckhart
My first thank you note was to golfer I caddied for when I was thirteen years old. Since then, I have written thousands of these wonderful notes. I have my own personal techniques I’ve learned over the years, and you will develop your own style. There’s actually a recommended tactic to assist you in writing the perfect thank you note. Diane Gottsman, a national etiquette expert and the owner of the Protocol School of Texas, recommends:
- A hand written note is always special.
- Use a dark colored ink, preferably black, when sending a professional thank you note.
- Address the card carefully; making sure the name of the person is spelled accurately.
- Mention something specific about the gift, if applicable, and how you plan to use or enjoy it the future.
- Don’t mention a denomination of money; rather, say your “generous” gift.
- Purchase nice, seasonal stamps or invest in forever stamps.
- Create a thank you note cache that is easily accessible when you are ready to sit down and write a thank you note. Include nice card stock, stamps, and a variety of writing pens and note cards.
Start by writing at least one handwritten thank you note a day for the next week. When you’ve made it through the seven days, write me a comment below and let me know how you feel after giving written thanks. Everyone who responds will get a thank you note from me personally from here in Germany!
Enjoy and LIVE the Three Points of Contact!
Go Get Em’
~ Greg
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