Leadership

Jaspreet Loyal MD, MS
Yale New Haven Hospital
Co-Director

Maryellen Gusic, MD
Medical University of South Carolina
Co-Director

Elaine Schulte, MD, 
Children's Hospital of Montefiore
Lead Faculty, Coaching

APL Cohort 3 Faculty

 

The Advancing Pediatric Leaders (APL) program will be seeking applicants and faculty for Cohort 4 (January 2027-December 2028)

Advancing Pediatric Leaders (APL) is a 2-year program designed to advance the leadership competencies of mid-career academic pediatric health professionals.

Who should apply:
Faculty with at least 5 years at the rank of assistant professor or associate professor and who have a current/new/newly accepted leadership opportunity/position. Faculty accepting leadership positions in health equity, community engagement, and/or inclusive excellence are strongly encouraged to apply.

Unique features of the program:

  • One-on-one coaching: Regularly scheduled conversations with a faculty coach focused on participant’s growth and vitality as a leader
  • Peer group coaching: Sessions that enable participants to practice a coaching approach to provide guidance related to work on their leadership initiative/change project
  • Interactive, hybrid curriculum:
    • Monthly virtual sessions scheduled on the 3rd Friday beginning in January of 2027
    • Face-to-face sessions on Friday at PAS 2027 and 2028
    • Experiential, hands-on application of learning through work on a leadership initiative/change project
  • Networking: Intentional programming to allow participants to showcase their work, increase their visibility, and augment and strengthen their professional network

Program Objectives:

By the end of the program participants will be able to:

  • Apply enhanced knowledge, skills and behaviors necessary to engage in leadership
  • Incorporate coaching as a tool for professional development and in their work supporting others
  • Advance work and increase visibility as a leader in their work environment and/or within the APA
  • Augment and strengthen their network as a resource for professional development

Learn more about this program by watching this short video

Apply

Applications for the upcoming cohort will open in the 2nd quarter of 2026.

Applicant Eligibility Criteria:

Late early career or early mid-career faculty who are current APA members (click here to join APA):

  • 5+ years as an Assistant Professor OR holds the rank of Associate Professor
  • Current or accepted leadership position
  • Underrepresented in medicine candidates and individuals recently beginning a leadership position in health equity, community engagement, and/or inclusive excellence are strongly encouraged to apply

Interested applicants must submit:

  1. CV
  2. One document with the following items:
    • A short (100 word maximum) statement describing your current, new (or accepted) leadership opportunity/position
      • Describe the leadership opportunity/position
      • Provide context related to how the opportunity/position is positioned in the organization and/or aligns with a strategic goal/initiative in your organization
    • A short (100 word maximum) statement of your career goals
      • Reflect on your strengths and opportunities for growth as a leader
      • Describe how participation in this leadership training program will help you to achieve your career goals
    • A short statement (100 word maximum) about how you have demonstrated/supported inclusive excellence in your work with others.
    • A brief description (200 word maximum) of an initiative/change project that you plan to implement as a leader to address a current/emerging challenge. Examples include:  creation of new program (e.g. clinical, educational, research, advocacy, etc) or advocating for and creating a specific change/change in culture in your organization (e.g. mentoring, inclusion and belonging, etc).  The work done during the program could be part of a larger project/the first phase of a longer-term initiative.  NOTE:  APL faculty are available to meet with you before the start of the program to further refine your plans for this work.
      • Describe how participation in this leadership training program will help you to achieve your goals for this initiative/project.
  3. A letter of support from your sponsor e.g. hospital CEO, department chair, division chief)
    • Please ask them to describe how this program will benefit you as a leader and to affirm that you will have protected time/effort to fully engage in the program and to meet all of the program requirements including attendance at PAS.

Tuition & Fees:

  • There is a $125 application fee
  • Tuition is $5600 due 90 days after acceptance

Please contact the APA office if the application fee and/or tuition limits your ability to apply.

Interested in becoming a faculty member for the APL program?

Who should apply:  Faculty who are current APA members (click here to join the APA) with:

  • 5+ years as associate professor or holds the rank of professor
  • Interest and expertise in faculty development and more specifically, teaching related to leadership development

Faculty with experience in health equity, community engagement, and/or inclusive excellence are strongly encouraged to apply.

Applications for the upcoming cohort will open 2nd quarter of 2026.

Apply to be a faculty member

Interested applicants must submit:

  1. CV
  2. One document with the following items:
    • A short (100 word maximum) statement describing why you are interested in this role and how it will contribute to your professional development
    • A short statement (100 word maximum) that describes your experience teaching topics related to leadership (include information about learner type(s), format and topics taught).
    • A short statement (100 word maximum) that describes your teaching philosophy highlighting how you have applied it in teaching peers/faculty development.
    • A short statement (100 word maximum) that describes your approach to coaching and/or mentoring and at least one specific example of how you have helped someone you have coached/mentored to address challenges and meet goals.
    • A short statement (100 word maximum) about how you have demonstrated/supported inclusive excellence in your work with others. Please note if you have or are currently serving in a leadership position in health equity, community engagement and/or inclusive excellence.

Testimonials from Participants:

Current Scholars

Cohort 3 (2024-2026)

Alumni

Cohort 1 (2020-2022)

Cohort 2 (2022-2024)

Projects/Leadership Initiatives Completed by Cohort 1 Participants

FAQs

  1. Who selects the participants and how many will be selected?
    The Academic Pediatric Association's Advancing Pediatric Leaders (APL) Faculty select participants. A cohort of approximately 12 participants is chosen every 2 years.
  2. What does the Advancing Pediatric Leaders Program cost?
    Cost of program is the responsibility of the participant:
    $125 application fee
    $5600 tuition
    Attendance at PAS meeting x 2 years

*Please note you will receive separate confirmation receipts for the application submission and the application fee. Your application won't be considered without the application fee.

  1. Why is there an enrollment fee?
    The fee makes it possible to sustain a high-quality program with each of the unique features described above: hybrid programming, one-on-one coaching, group coaching and programming to foster networking for participants. The faculty engage in monthly professional development sessions to advance their skills as coaches in addition to meeting to discuss program planning and evaluation/results of evaluation.
  2. What are the criteria for acceptance?
    We are looking for participants with outstanding credentials, a dedicated sponsor/documentation of institutional support, and well-described goals that will allow them to apply their learning and advance their competence as leaders.
  3. Are there exceptions to the time in rank criteria?
    Applicants with <5 years at the rank of Assistant Professor and prior experience outside of academics may be eligible if they meet all other eligibility criteria. Applicants requesting an exception related to the academic rank requirement should include an additional statement of 3 sentences or less describing their situation and rationale for this request. This statement should be provided on a separate document within the application. The sponsor’s letter of support should attest to the applicant's request for an exception and the need for this leadership training at this stage of the applicant’s academic career
  4. What are the qualifications, types of leadership roles/responsibilities that are required for applicants?

Applicants’ leadership opportunities could include roles such as medical clinic director, educational program leader, division/section chief, research team PI, community initiative director, quality improvement director, or chair of a committee/task force (institutional) or interest group/region/committee (professional organization).

Preference is given to those within three years of transitioning to a new leadership role and those who have accepted but not yet started a new leadership role.

7. How do I select my sponsor?

Effective sponsors should:

      • Be in a recognized leadership position in the candidate’s home institution. Ideally, the sponsor holds a higher academic rank than the applicant (This is not a requirement.)
      • Be able to dedicate sufficient time to meet with the program participant monthly to discuss progress on the leadership initiative they are working on and to provide feedback to the participant on this work and on their development as a leader and future career goals
      • Be in a position to guarantee/afford the candidate adequate time/financial support to fully engage in all of the activities of the program

8. Do you have to be an APA member to apply?

Yes

9. Can pediatric subspecialists apply?
Yes, sub-specialists are welcome and encouraged to participate. The focus of the program is leadership, not any particular discipline or specialty.

10. What is the program curriculum?
Face-to-face sessions shouldering PAS for 2 years;

    • Monthly interactive, virtual sessions
    • In person sessions at PAS for 2 years
    • Individual coaching sessions with a faculty coach
    • Group coaching sessions
    • Work in progress poster session
    • Virtual showcase presentations of leadership work at the end of the program

Sample topics

    • Cultivating your Network
    • Leadership Styles
    • Emotional Intelligence
    • Leadership Presence
    • Change Management
    • Developing a Business Plan
    • Time Management
    • Interpersonal Effectiveness
    • Motivating and Empowering Others
    • Finances
    • Effective Listening and Communication
    • Conflict Management
    • Negotiation Skills
    • Creating and Sustaining Inclusive Excellence
    • Lifelong Learning as a Leader
    • Resilience as a Leader
  1. Who is my APL coach?
    Your coach we will be a member of the APL faculty who will be assigned to partner with you throughout the program to engage in conversation about how to maximize your growth and vitality as a leader.