Leadership Education and Development (LEAD)

Purpose of the Program

The Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) program sets the standard for leadership education and development for medical students by drawing on world class resources within the University of Toronto and its affiliated healthcare institutions. The LEAD program provides a solid foundation of values, skills and experiences that will allow students to realize their full potential as leaders. The LEAD program aims to create a new generation of physician leaders committed to improving healthcare and health of our communities.

Rationale for the Program

Effective leadership is essential to the success of healthcare delivery and the improvement of health. Across Canada and internationally, there is growing concern over a gap in leadership training for physicians. In the past, there has been no clear training path for physicians who aspire to lead and in particular there has been no systematic attempt to nurture and support leadership skills during undergraduate medical education. The University of Toronto is in a unique position to provide an innovative new program for training medical students in leadership.

The undergraduate medical education program in the Faculty of Medicine (FOM) at the University of Toronto has consistently been able to attract the best and the brightest students. A survey of those students showed that many of them have demonstrated leadership potential before entry to medical school, they are interested in further developing those skills while in medical school and they envision careers in leadership.

The University of Toronto has world-class faculty in three graduate programs – Health Policy Management and Evaluation (HPME), Rotman School of Management (RSM) and the School of Public Policy and Governance (SPPG) – who are committed to training students in leadership. A collaborative effort between the FOM and these three academic partners will provide LEAD students with an opportunity to enrol in graduate courses.

The University of Toronto plays an important role in its broader community through a range of formal and informal relationships with organizations and institutions that value physician leadership. These relationships allow the LEAD program to draw on those resources and they help to ensure that the LEAD program will meet community and societal goals.

LEAD Curriculum

The academic content and structure of the LEAD program was developed after a review of existing programs, interviews with students and meetings with faculty. The LEAD program is structured to be sensitive to competing demands inherent in the undergraduate medical curriculum and was developed with and approved by the Vice-Dean Undergraduate Medical Education. LEAD Scholars will take a longitudinal sequence of 6 graduate courses and have two summer-long practicum experiences.

The graduate courses provide the LEAD Scholars with knowledge and skills that are required for leadership and draw on the unique perspectives of each of the three academic programs. The summer placement will provide opportunities to apply these skills and knowledge and to better understand career opportunities in leadership. Both formal and informal networking with local, national, and international healthcare leaders and students in other academic programs will provide LEAD Scholars with access to the contacts and experience that are important in developing their leadership potential.

LEAD course and practicum schedule

Semester	Year 1 (2011/12)	Year 2 (2012/13)	Year 3 (2013/14)	Year 4 (2014/15)
Fall	Student Recruitment, Information Sessions and Application Submission	Course 2: Health Sector Strategy and Organization (RSM)	Course 5 Part 1: Applied Topics in Health Care Management (RSM)
Winter	Student selection, opening dinner and leadership skills development weekend retreat	Course 3: Topics in Public Policy: Policy Development (SPPG)	Course 5 Part 2: Applied Topics in Health Care Management (RSM)	Course 6: Advanced Topics in Healthcare Leadership (HPME)
June	Course 1: Introduction to Health Care Leadership for Physicians (HPME)	Course 4: Consulting on Public Problems (SPPG)
July & August	Practicum 1: Individual Summer Placement	Practicum 2: Group Summer Placement

Example Seminar schedule

Examples of Course Offerings

Introduction to Physician Leadership – HAD-7001

This course consists of both a series of seminars and a structured practicum. The seminars will provide students with an introduction to some key management and leadership skills including project management, data management and analysis, team work and conflict resolution. Along with these skills, the seminar series will include a sequence of sessions on key areas in leadership that will bring together key concepts augmented by real world examples of physician leadership in health care. The seminar series will be integrated and coordinated with structured practica in a range of health care settings. The overall goal of the course is to provide students with basic skills and concepts around leadership and to allow them to apply those skills and concepts in a structured and mentored practicum.

Health Sector Strategy and Organization – RSM MGT-2020

This course is open to all 2nd year Rotman Students and is a required core course in the Rotman School of Management’s major in Health Sector Management. This course aims to improve your ability to formulate and implement strategy in the healthcare delivery sector. The course will help prepare students for leadership roles in healthcare management, the life sciences, insurance, government, entrepreneurship, venture capital, and health sector consulting, Numerous guest speakers will participate in the course. They will be selected from a group of hospitals CEOs, physician leaders, health care consultants, health care managers and senior government officials.

Topics in Public Policy: Policy Development PPG-2015

Governments face a vast array of complex issues. Public Policy professionals are constantly evaluating problems, analyzing issues and proposing solutions. This course is designed to expose students to the Public Policy Development process, including framing an issue, evaluating important internal and external considerations, developing and analyzing viable options, understanding short and long term consequences and developing a workable implementation strategy. The course will involve a combination of lectures and participation on a policy team to address pressing challenges facing government. Students will develop several policy decision-making documents leading to a detailed Cabinet Document or Policy Paper in an interactive and real life setting. Students will be exposed to the full range of policy development tools, including interaction with government officials and other experts.

University of Toronto Undergraduate Medical Education

Leadership Education and Development (LEAD)

Leadership Education and Development (LEAD)