Physician Executives--the Lone Rangers of Administration‪?‬

Craig Slater did not venture into the surgeons' lounge during his first six months as vice president medical affairs at the 445-bed Memorial Hospital in Gulfport, Miss. "I could sense I was not welcome," he says. "One day I was an orthopedic surgeon and chief of staff, the next day, I was essentially the VPMA," says Slater, 55. "My colleagues thought I had gone over to the dark side. Doctors are funny. It's kind of like being in a club and violating the rules."