A Faculty Development Model for Academic Leadership Education Across A Health Care Organization

Academic leadership in undergraduate and graduate medical education requires a specific set of leadership and managerial skills that are unique to academic leadership positions. While leadership development training programs exist for traditional leadership roles such as department chairs, executives, and deans, there are fewer models of leadership training specifically geared for academic leadership positions such as program and clerkship directors, and designated institutional officials. There are academic programs at the national level, but there is sparse literature on the specific decisions required to create such programs locally. With growing regulatory and accreditation requirements as well as the challenges of balancing the clinical and educational missions, effective leadership is needed across the spectrum of academic medicine. To meet this need for the military health care system in the United States, we used Kern’s six-step framework for curriculum development to create a 1-week academic leadership course. This paper describes the process of development, implementation, outcomes, and lessons learned following the initial 3 years of courses. Specific discussions regarding who to train, which faculty to use, content, and other elements of course design are reviewed. The course and process outlined in the paper offer a model for other organizations desiring to establish an academic leadership course.