Lessons Learned after Implementing an Academic Faculty Leadership Program Over Seven Years

Abstract

Facing challenges in quality, patient safety, and cost, the healthcare industry is striving to transform and embrace the leadership practices of successful business organizations. Achieving this transformation requires physician leaders. However, equipping emerging leaders with the necessary skills to drive change and develop transformative policies calls for systemic, cohesive, sustained, and data-driven educational efforts. The authors share their experience with training physicians in their academic faculty leadership program over seven years. Participant feedback and observations by the educational team resulted in changes in their application process, session topics, format, facilitators, project teams, assessments, and post-program development or follow-up. The authors share lessons learned and possible solutions, which may assist similar programs in improving their physician leadership development programs.