Distinction in Leadership in Academic Healthcare

What is the Distinction in Leadership in Academic Healthcare Program?

Distinction in leadership will join the four Distinction programs offered to medical students: Distinction in Research, Distinction in Medical Education, Distinction in Global Health, Distinction in Service to the Community, and Distinction in Leadership. This prestigious and rigorous program will support and recognize Robert Wood Johnson Medical School students who show exceptional interest, leadership, and commitment to careers in academic medicine. Students will distinguish themselves by integrating the complexities of academic medicine in the context of higher education and developing skills in the in the collaborative planning, implementation, and participation and dissemination of a field project in the realm of academic medicine administration. Students who are accepted into this program and who fulfill all requirements as certified by the Distinction in Leadership committee will receive diplomas at Commencement stating that they have graduated with "Distinction in Leadership."

Program Objectives

• Become familiar with contemporary challenges facing academic medicine  and higher education leaders
• Deepen understanding of fundamental perspectives and concepts of leadership
• Enhance personal and professional leadership competencies
• Advance professional development by leading a field-based project from conception through completion
• Increase understanding of important dimensions of higher education administration, including organizational structure and mission, governance, finance and budgeting, legal and regulatory issues, diversity, and ethics.
• Promote interactions and mutual understanding between all post graduate disciplines

Eligibility

The program will run over two years. Courses will run over two academic years in each cycle. Students in any year can begin the program with the understanding that a leadership capstone project will need to be completion.

Requirements Overview

A Distinction in Leadership Committee will oversee the program. Participants will be required to complete the didactics program, spend the equivalent of four weeks in an “administrative” externship, create a scholarly project, author a publication ready manuscript and present the project at an annual symposium.

Didactics Format

Ten, 2-hour sessions over four semesters. This is a cohort program in which participants will development leadership skills and competencies by discussing case studies, simulations, presentations, and readings.

Session Topics

• Leadership Processes and Practice in an Academic Health Center
• Leveraging Strengths for Leadership Excellence in an Academic Health Context
• Competencies for Effective Leadership in Academic Health Centers
• The Role of Formal and Informal Leadership in Academic Health Centers
• Understanding Leadership-Communication Connections and Engaging in Difficult Conversations
• Project Planning and Project Leadership
• Metrics and Continuous Quality Improvement
• Budgeting and Finance in the Academic Health Center
• Culture and Challenges in the Academic Health Center

Externship and Scholarly Project

Field-based projects under the mentorship of senior campus leaders. The Distinction in Leadership Committee will review project proposals and approve final scholarly projects

Timeline

(adaptable for students interested in participating after the first year of medical school)

First Year

• Keep records of participation in the didactics program
• Perform independent research on a proposed fieldwork project
• Meet with the senior associate dean for education identify faculty mentors for the academic leadership field research
• Establish personalized mentoring team with the guidance of the senior associate dean for education
• Begin to meet regularly with mentors to review expectations and progress in the program.

Summer between first and second years

First externship in academic medicine leadership (department, division, hospital based) Prepare initial draft for project.

Second Year

• Didactics program
• Continue to refine project for implementation: This will be an appropriate intervention and plan for sustainability.
• Complete the application for the Distinction in Leadership program for review and approval by the Distinction in Leadership committee. The application will be a formal proposal of the background/rationale for the project, the expected outcomes, and the evaluation plan.

Third Year

Complete the application for the Distinction in Leadership program for review and approval by the DGH committee. The application will be a formal proposal of the background/rationale for the project, the method of intervention the expected outcomes, and the evaluation plan. Begin manuscript preparation

Fourth Year

• Student projects will be reviewed by the Distinction in Leadership committee at their November and March meetings. Students must produce a scholarly project, in a format suitable for submission to a journal.
• Additionally they will present the work orally at the year-end Distinction in Leadership Symposium in March.
• When these requirements are met, the student will receive on his/her diploma a Distinction in Leadership notation and a record of this accomplishment will be put into the student’s Medical Student Performance Evaluation (letter of evaluation for residency placement).