Helping physicians to become more critical thinkers is just one of the core competencies taught in Yale School of Management’s Emerging Leaders Program (ELP). For the last six years, in collaboration with Yale Medicine and the Yale New Haven Health System, the two year ELP program has provided intensive business training to Yale physicians —an extraordinary opportunity not lost on its participants. “Medicine has a very unique economy, and I am very grateful for this unparalleled experience,” said Jaime Cavallo, MD, MPHS, Assistant Professor of Urology. “I’ve enjoyed the mentorship and collaboration with my peers, and the access to graduate-level business experts.”
Thee ELP curriculum covers familiar business school competencies and leadership principles including finance, organization behavior, economics, and project management. Both years of the program are immersive—one day a month of interactive morning and afternoon sessions, for nine months. e second year takes the skills acquired in year one and applies them to the learning goals of ‘Leading Yourself and Leading Others.’
Each nominated by the Yale Urology Chair, several Yale Urology faculty have participated since the program’s inception. For the 2020-21 session, Angela Arlen, MD, Assistant Professor of Urology; Jaime Cavallo, MD, MPHS; and Daniel Kellner, MD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Urology, join nearly 80 colleagues in medicine in ELP—double the roster size of previous years. “It’s a fantastic opportunity to prepare for future leadership roles, but most importantly to enhance understanding of the system to better serve our patient population,” said Dr. Arlen.
The program equips faculty with the opportunity to enrich their work life, explains Tim Shea, Learning Experience Manager, Executive Programs, Yale School of Management. “Participants acquire a basic understanding on how to inspire, manage, and lead people. It shows them how to be innovative and look at situations more broadly than they would otherwise.”
“At the end of two years, participants will be able to apply operational principles and understand economic rationale—and when something smells right or smells bad,” said Paul Taheri, MD, MBA, Chief Executive Officer of Yale Medicine, and Deputy Dean of Yale School of Medicine.
After arriving at Yale in 2013 from the University of Vermont, Dr. Taheri saw an immediate need for a professional development program for physician leaders—the same type of program he first created at the University of Michigan, and then again at Vermont. “We want physicians to step out of their bubble, and understand how the world really works,” Dr. Taheri said.
To put this training to work, he says the best thing physicians can do is “to ‘use it or lose it.’ Get engaged with their department.” Ultimately, when it comes to how they approach their clinic work or patient flow, “they need to be the quarterback—the central figure who communicates the game plan and lets everyone complete their specific roles.”