Leadership

Susan Bostwick, MD, MBA
Weill Cornell Medical College

Maryellen Gusic, MD
University of Virginia School of Medicine

APL Faculty Coaches

APL is an 18-month longitudinal program designed to advance the leadership competencies of mid-career academic pediatric health professionals by enhancing the knowledge, skills and behaviors to support their engagement in leadership opportunities locally or within the APA. The program utilizes personal professional coaching, interactive face-to-face learning sessions at PAS meetings and distance learning to prepare participants to address leadership challenges and to augment and strengthen their professional network. Participants construct a career plan for the next steps in their leadership journey and identify strategies to increase their visibility as a leader.

Program Goal:

Advance the leadership competencies of mid-career academic pediatric health professionals

Program Objectives:

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

  • Apply enhanced knowledge, skills and behaviors necessary to engage in leadership
  • Address leadership challenges in their work environment and/or within the APA
  • Advance scholarly work and increase visibility as a leader in their work environment and/or within the APA
  • Incorporate coaching as a tool for professional development and in their work supporting others
  • Augment and strengthen their network as a resource for professional development
  • Construct a plan for the next stage of their career and/or to realize an opportunity for leadership

Learn more about this program by watching this short video.

Apply

APL Applications are now closed.

Applicant Eligibility Criteria:

Late early career or early mid-career faculty who are current APA members:

  • 5+ years as an Assistant Professor OR holds the rank of Associate Professor
  • Current or accepted leadership position
  • Underrepresented minority candidates are strongly encouraged to apply

Interested applicants must submit:

  1. A current curriculum vitae
  2. A short (100 word maximum) statement describing your current (or accepted) leadership position
    • Describe the work you do/will do as a leader
    • Define your leadership position/role in the organization
  3. 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
    • Completion of a leadership project is a core component of the curriculum.
  4. Describe a potential/planned project in which you will apply your leadership skills (maximum 200 words). This project should be completed during the program (18 months). The project work done during the program could be part of a larger project/the first phase of a longer-term project.
    • Describe the goal of your project
    • Describe how you will measure success/completion of your project
    • Describe your specific role in the project (ex. vision setting, strategic planning, project management, evaluation, training, and/or reporting to stakeholders)
    • Describe how you will apply your learning in this program to your work/role on your project
  5. Provide a letter of support from the executive sponsor of your application (e.g. hospital CEO, department chair, division chief) describing how this program will benefit you in your leadership role and affirming that you will have protected time/effort to fully engage in the program and to meet all of the program requirements.

Tuition & Fees:

  • There is a $125 application fee
  • Tuition is $2,500, due within 90 days of acceptance

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

Current Scholars

Cohort 1 (2020-2022)

FAQs

1. Who selects the participants and how many will be selected?
The Academic Pediatric Association's Advancing Pediatric Leaders (APL) Faculty direct the selection of participants. A cohort of 24 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
$2500 tuition
Travel to 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.

3. Why is there an enrollment fee?
The APL is expensive to operate, with faculty engaged in managing and evaluating the program, planning the curriculum, teaching at PAS, directing intersession activities, and coaching individual participants. The fee makes it possible to sustain a high-quality program.

4. What are the criteria for acceptance?
We are looking for participants with outstanding credentials, a dedicated sponsor/documentation of institutional support, and a well-designed project that will allow them to apply their leadership skills and that will have an impact for their career development and division/department or beyond.

5. 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

6. What are the qualifications, types of leadership roles/responsibilities that are required for applicants? Applicants’ leadership roles must involve:

  • Responsibility for either operation, vision setting, accountability, and/or strategic planning
  • Participation in the evaluation or hiring of support staff and/or multiple team members.
    Leadership positions could include roles such as medical clinic director, educational program leader, division/section chief, research team PI, community initiative director, quality improvement director, or committee chair (institutional or professional organization)

    • Preference is given to those within three years of transitioning to a new leadership role

7. How do I select my sponsor?
Effective sponsors should:

  1. 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.)
  2. Be able to dedicate sufficient time to meet with the program participant monthly to discuss project/program updates and to provide feedback to the participant on their project work and on their development as a leader and career goals
  3. Be in a position to guarantee/afford the candidate adequate time to fully engage in all of the activities of the program including the protected time to work on the participant’s leadership project

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?

  • Daylong face-to-face sessions shouldering PAS for 2 years;
  • Intersession webinars
  • Individual coaching sessions
  • Project poster session at the second face-to-face session (work to date)
  • Project presentation via webinar at the end of the program

Sample topics

  • Models of Leadership
  • Emotional Intelligence
  • Change Processes
  • Developing a Business Plan
  • Time Management
  • Interpersonal Effectiveness
  • Motivating and empowering others
  • Networking Skills
  • Effective Listening and communication
  • Conflict Management
  • Negotiations Skills
  • Lifelong Learning
  • Resilience as a leader

11. Who is my APL coach?
Your coach we will be a member of the APL faculty who will be assigned to partner with you to engage in conversation about how to maximize your leadership skill development and apply these skills in addressing your leadership challenges and engage with you throughout the program.