Clinicians | Executive and Continuing Professional Education | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Programs

Conflict, Feedback, and Negotiation for Physician Leaders
- February 16 – 18, 2022
Increase your competence as a physician leader in the critical management areas of navigating conflict, providing feedback, and skillfully approaching negotiations.
Health Care Financial Management for Physician Leaders
- March 8 – 10, 2022
Increase your financial literacy as a physician leader. In this course, you will learn financial management and control, and how to interact more effectively with finance personnel.
Principles and Practice of Clinical Research
- March 24, 2022 – November 3, 2022
This program explores clinical research (including research basics, statistical methods, data collection, and study design) to ensure that participants can conduct clinical trials in an effective manner. By participating, you will become a more efficient and effective clinical researcher.
Leadership Strategies for Evolving Health Care Executives
- April 4 – 8, 2022
Develop the health care leadership skills you need to achieve individual and organizational objectives. You will gain skills to lead more effectively, including conflict resolution, operational analysis, employee management, and quality management.
Foundations of Mental Health Care
- May 3, 2022 – June 2, 2022
This program will focus on understanding the mental health needs of diverse populations, across the life course, from relatively healthy to those who are ill, and from vulnerable groups to the privileged.
Applied Artificial Intelligence for Health Care
- May 9 – 13, 2022
Everything you want to know about AI in health care, but are afraid to ask. Learn the fundamental concepts of AI and how it can support your organization’s strategy and serve your patients.
Program for Chairs of Clinical Services
- May 9 – 21, 2022
- January 22, 2023 – February 3, 2023
The Program for Chairs of Clinical Services brings together chairs of major clinical departments in teaching hospitals for intensive and systematic study of the critical leadership and management issues facing chairs, their departments, and teaching hospitals.
Work Health and Well-beingAchieving Worker Health
- May 17 – 20, 2022
This applied program provides the knowledge necessary to integrate siloed occupational health, health promotion, and health protection programs to improve working conditions, minimize work-related injuries and illnesses, and reduce employee health care-related costs.
Leading in Health SystemsActivating Transformational Change
- June 6 – 10, 2022
Improve your response to crisis and unprecedented change in health care through meta-leadership. In this online program, you will build leadership skills to best engage stakeholders, develop innovative solutions, and create buy-in to achieve success during a crisis.
Emerging Women Executives in Health Care
- June 20 – 23, 2022
This leadership development program focused on women provides you with the skills to lead complex health care organizations. Participating in this course will help you bridge the gaps in your understanding, strategies, and skills, and prepare you for the next stage in your career.
Health Care Project ManagementThe Intersection of Strategy, People, and Process
- July 12 – 14, 2022
This program drives meaningful growth in project leadership abilities for clinicians, administrators and operations professionals in health care settings. It covers project leadership, assessment, planning, initiation, execution, quality control, team-building, management, conflict resolution and communication with stakeholders.
Leadership Development for Physicians in Academic Health Centers
- October 2 – 14, 2022
- October 23, 2022 – November 4, 2022
Leadership Development for Physicians in Academic Health Centers brings together physicians in administrative positions in academic health centers, who lead a clinical division and report directly to the chair of their department, for intensive and systematic study of the critical leadership and management issues facing academic health centers.
The International Leadership Development Program for Physicians
Leadership Development to Advance Equity in Health Care
Leading in Health Systems
Preparing for What’s Next in U.S. Health Reform
Measurement, Design, and Analysis Methods for Health Outcomes Research
Leadership Strategies for Information Technology in Health Care
Global Tobacco Control

News & Resources

It’s More Important Than Ever for Physician Leaders to Develop Financial Literacy—Here’s How to Start

Financial literacy will always be an important skill for a physician leader. But now, because of the ongoing challenges of COVID-19 and the unique demands it imposes on budgets, the skill set is even more critical. Understanding how resources are allocated and how to negotiate and self-advocate during financial discussions has never been more important. … Continue reading “It’s More Important Than Ever for Physician Leaders to Develop Financial Literacy—Here’s How to Start”

Posted on December 14, 2021
The Art of Managing Conflict and Cultivating Influence as Health Care Leaders

It’s a stereotype with a grain of truth: leaders are often promoted for past performance, not future potential. That notion certainly rings true in health care, considering how many clinicians are regularly promoted to positions of leadership because of their clinical skills. When things don’t work out, though, it’s less often about their clinical performance … Continue reading “The Art of Managing Conflict and Cultivating Influence as Health Care Leaders”

Posted on December 14, 2021
Risk Analysis in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Weighing the Cost and Benefits of Vaccines and Masks

Every single day, people take risks. They drive in cars and fly in airplanes, expose themselves to environmental pollution and so much more. While some of these public health risks are so integrated into our lives that we’ve stopped worrying about them, other risks—such as engaging in activities that increase your likelihood of contracting COVID-19—can … Continue reading “Risk Analysis in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Weighing the Cost and Benefits of Vaccines and Masks”

Posted on November 7, 2021
Change Management: Why It’s So Important, and So Challenging, in Health Care Environments

Medical professionals excel at finding solutions in patient care. “We are great at coming up with the ‘next big thing’: we have brilliant people who are at the front lines of innovation,” says Louise Keogh Weed, program director of the Leadership Strategies for Evolving Health Care Executives program and a practice transformation specialist at the … Continue reading “Change Management: Why It’s So Important, and So Challenging, in Health Care Environments”

Posted on September 20, 2021
How COVID-19 Has Changed the Standards of Worker Safety and Health — and How Organizations Can Adapt

Ensuring health and safety in the workplace is already a critically important issue; organizations that invest in occupational safety perform better, reduce turnover, and help workers do their jobs more effectively. But COVID-19 has forced companies to act quickly and decisively to keep workers safe. As employers endeavor to slow the spread of the virus … Continue reading “How COVID-19 Has Changed the Standards of Worker Safety and Health — and How Organizations Can Adapt”

Posted on March 31, 2021
Algorithmic Bias in Health Care Exacerbates Social Inequities — How to Prevent It

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to drastically improve patient outcomes. AI utilizes algorithms to assess data from the world, make a representation of that data, and use that information to make an inference. From handling administrative tasks to actively diagnosing disease, AI could make treatment faster and more effective in clinical settings, especially as … Continue reading “Algorithmic Bias in Health Care Exacerbates Social Inequities — How to Prevent It”

Posted on March 12, 2021
How to Build—And Lead—Resilient Health Care Teams During COVID-19

Health care workers currently face challenges that are more intense than usual during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The medical field is no stranger to crises, but COVID-19 has caused, in many cases, a profoundly heightened environment — extending not just to the professional but to the personal lives of employees, leaders, partners, and patients. “It’s … Continue reading “How to Build—And Lead—Resilient Health Care Teams During COVID-19”

Posted on September 21, 2020
The Unique Challenges – and Opportunities – Facing Leaders of Academic Health Centers During COVID-19

Academic health systems routinely test their disaster preparedness—but nothing has fully prepared organizations for the public health crisis of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, explains Mary Finlay, lecturer in the Department of Health Policy & Management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and program director of the Leadership Development for Physicians in Academic … Continue reading “The Unique Challenges – and Opportunities – Facing Leaders of Academic Health Centers During COVID-19”

Posted on May 21, 2020
The Importance of Meta-Leadership During the COVID-19 Crisis

The unprecedented worldwide crisis spawned by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) makes leading in health care more challenging than ever. Executives face the stress and consequences of a pandemic on top of the tumult of an unsettled marketplace. The concepts and tools of meta-leadership help those leaders reframe adversity. It is an opportunity for building … Continue reading “The Importance of Meta-Leadership During the COVID-19 Crisis”

Posted on May 7, 2020
It’s Not Just Personal: The Economic Value of Preventing Bullying in the Workplace

People who are bullied at work can suffer a myriad of negative health impacts—poor mental health, sleep deprivation, and stress-related illness among them. This can also impact their workplace at the organizational level, especially since some bullied workers leave their jobs, file HR claims, pursue legal action, or simply suffer from low morale. It’s a … Continue reading “It’s Not Just Personal: The Economic Value of Preventing Bullying in the Workplace”

Posted on March 4, 2020
Transform Your Health Care Organization with Quality Improvement Skills

Physician leaders who work in a variety of health care settings all around the world face similar challenges — from managing staff members to improving financial performance — in order to lead their organizations to success. They also require a deep understanding of the science of quality improvement, which is a framework used to improve … Continue reading “Transform Your Health Care Organization with Quality Improvement Skills”

Posted on January 16, 2020
Putting the Drug Debate into Context: the State of Pharmaceutical Cost Reform in the U.S.

U.S. medical care has experienced huge and unsustainable spending increases—especially in drug prices—for decades. Under the Affordable Care Act, the Obama administration accelerated the value-based care movement to address key spending categories such as hospital and physician care. Value-based purchasing seeks to reduce spending by improving quality and efficiency to address unnecessary costs. Most stakeholders … Continue reading “Putting the Drug Debate into Context: the State of Pharmaceutical Cost Reform in the U.S.”

Posted on January 8, 2020
The Path to Effective Health Care Project Management

At its core, effective health care centers around human health and life—so, working in a health care field means making life-changing decisions. Unfortunately, the industry is unique not just for the higher stakes, but also for its unpredictability and complexity. Different industries, professionals, and project management styles conjoin, often inefficiently, and professionals must fight for … Continue reading “The Path to Effective Health Care Project Management”

Posted on April 24, 2019
The Knowns and Unknowns of Health Care Meta-Leadership

The state of health care in this country could best be described as predictably unpredictable. The future of the Affordable Care Act—and the financing that underlies it—is open for question. Evolving technology challenges health care organizations both to keep up and to stay smart in how they adapt to new opportunities and capabilities. And the … Continue reading “The Knowns and Unknowns of Health Care Meta-Leadership”

Posted on April 3, 2019
Why Health Care CIOs Can’t Delay on Embracing AI

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to transform the health care landscape over the next few years, helping clinicians achieve better outcomes in patient care and enabling organizations to be more efficient. But many Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and other IT leaders today are still poised at the brink of change, having not yet adopted … Continue reading “Why Health Care CIOs Can’t Delay on Embracing AI”

Posted on February 4, 2019
Why Evolving Health Care Leaders Can Benefit from Stronger Management and Strategy Skills

Do you work in health care? Do you have leadership aspirations? If so, you’ll need to develop your strategy and management skills right now. That’s because in today’s rapidly changing marketplace, employees at all levels must be equipped with a much more diverse set of strengths than in the past. They need to adapt to … Continue reading “Why Evolving Health Care Leaders Can Benefit from Stronger Management and Strategy Skills”

Posted on October 22, 2018
Why Building Your Brand Is Essential to Leveraging Project Management Opportunities in Health Care

In today’s tumultuous health care landscape, there is a growing need for project managers who demonstrate key skill sets to lead their organizations for success, according to Karen Curley, Instructor in the Division of Policy Translation and Leadership Development at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She also serves as the Program Director … Continue reading “Why Building Your Brand Is Essential to Leveraging Project Management Opportunities in Health Care”

Posted on June 7, 2018
From Physician to Physician Leader: Developing Your Skills for Success

As academic health centers are challenged by the dynamic health care environment, they must find ways to adapt in order to thrive. This has resulted in the growing trend of bringing physicians into leadership roles with the goal of introducing change and setting new directions for the institution. Physician leaders ranging from department chairs to … Continue reading “From Physician to Physician Leader: Developing Your Skills for Success”

Posted on May 24, 2018
Exploring the Challenges Facing Women Leaders in Health Care

If you’re a woman executive working in today’s complex health care setting, you likely face many challenges on the job that make it difficult to advance your career to the next stage. That’s because women in leadership roles often meet resistance when they try to assert their authority or demonstrate the same management traits that … Continue reading “Exploring the Challenges Facing Women Leaders in Health Care”

Posted on March 28, 2018
The Changing Role of Health IT Leaders: Positioning for Success Moving Forward

Health care organizations have undergone much change in recent years, including the need to incorporate a growing array of technological advances into their day-to-day operations. In fact, as innovations such as population health, big data, and precision medicine are transforming the current landscape, in the process they’re also changing the role of chief information officers … Continue reading “The Changing Role of Health IT Leaders: Positioning for Success Moving Forward”

Posted on March 19, 2018
Leading Through the Complexity of Health Care Change

Health system leaders now face numerous challenges in guiding their organizations: Reimbursement is in question as the health policy debate ebbs and flows. The market is becoming increasingly consolidated and competitive. Technology provides tremendous opportunities along with significant costs and risks. In this ambiguous mix, decisions must be reached. Practices must evolve. And emotions come … Continue reading “Leading Through the Complexity of Health Care Change”

Posted on March 15, 2018
How to Transform Employee Resistance through Team Building and Training

Teamwork is crucial to an organization’s ongoing success. When management runs smoothly, employees tend to enjoy their jobs, exhibit greater passion for their work, and collaborate more intelligently to positively shape their industry year after year. But when an organization is run by inefficient management who regularly causes day-to-day, or even hour-by-hour, workplace challenges that … Continue reading “How to Transform Employee Resistance through Team Building and Training”

Posted on September 20, 2017
Universal Challenges for Physician Leaders

To learn more about the unprecedented challenges facing physician leaders all over the globe, we spoke with Laurie Pascal, lecturer in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Director Cindy Hupke. They serve as co-directors for the International Leadership Development … Continue reading “Universal Challenges for Physician Leaders”

Posted on September 13, 2017
The Value of Applying Health Outcomes Research to Improve Treatment Results

With mounting pressure on health care organizations to provide high-quality care while containing costs, there’s been an increasing reliance on using health outcomes research to identify the most effective interventions and incorporate them into clinical practice. As such, health outcomes research can provide a valuable resource to help clinicians make strategic treatment choices that will … Continue reading “The Value of Applying Health Outcomes Research to Improve Treatment Results”

Posted on August 8, 2017
Exploring the Next Phase of Health Care Reform: How Health Care Leaders Can Position Their Organizations for Success

These are uncertain times in American health care. The Republican Congress and President Trump have vowed to repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly called Obamacare. They recently unveiled the American Health Care Act, the replacement plan, which has met with substantial resistance from all parts of the political spectrum. … Continue reading “Exploring the Next Phase of Health Care Reform: How Health Care Leaders Can Position Their Organizations for Success”

Posted on March 24, 2017
Leading Health Care Through Unpredictable Times

Health care leaders now face a perplexing mix of puzzles. With a political push to repeal and possibly replace Obamacare – more accurately the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or ACA – the financial, service delivery, and workforce foundations of the health system are in question. It is true that managing the current operations … Continue reading “Leading Health Care Through Unpredictable Times”

Posted on February 24, 2017
Measuring Up: The Need to Incorporate Key Nursing Indicators in Electronic Health Records

One of the key developments resulting from health care reform is a growing reliance on using “big data” to guide health care systems’ efforts to deliver high-quality, cost-effective care. This trend explains why increasingly many organizations are employing Electronic Health Records (EHR) as a way to track measurable indicators of patient care and outcomes, as … Continue reading “Measuring Up: The Need to Incorporate Key Nursing Indicators in Electronic Health Records”

Posted on October 27, 2016
Improving Patient Experience and Reducing Cost by Measuring Outcomes

In the climate of health care reform, much attention has been paid to the Triple Aim of improving population health, reducing costs, and improving patient experience. The goals of the Triple Aim framework, which was developed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, are complex and challenging, but become less so when broken into smaller goals … Continue reading “Improving Patient Experience and Reducing Cost by Measuring Outcomes”

Posted on September 20, 2016
Vaccinating Against an Epidemic: The Story of an Ebola Vaccine

In August 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Ebola outbreak then raging in West Africa a “public health emergency of international concern,” a formal designation by the WHO’s Emergency Committee that reflects the fact that the disease was spreading internationally and posed a risk to other countries yet unaffected. By the time the … Continue reading “Vaccinating Against an Epidemic: The Story of an Ebola Vaccine”

Posted on July 21, 2016
Tuberculosis in Rural America: What Tuberculosis in Marion, AL Tells Us

Many factors could be blamed for the spread of tuberculosis in a rural Alabama town earlier this year, including its residents’ fears of being stigmatized in a small town, poverty line, and the legacy of the Tuskegee experiments.

Posted on March 28, 2016
Leadership Development (Infographic)

How do leaders become leaders? While some people still think leadership is an innate capacity, there is strong evidence that leaders develop over time through experience. Beyond experience, leadership development programs—including executive education courses, mentoring, internal educational offerings, and coaching—are a proven method for developing leadership capacity. Continue reading to find out how leadership development … Continue reading “Leadership Development (Infographic)”

Posted on February 25, 2016
8 Healthcare Quality Improvement Tips

There have been promising improvements in healthcare quality as a result of improvement efforts nationwide. Even so, there is still much to be done. This article offers 8 tips to improve quality in health care.

Posted on February 18, 2016
How Health Care Executives Can Use Health Outcomes Research for Business Decision Making

Health outcomes studies can offer a lot of benefit for health care delivery organizations that utilize them for business decision-making. This article explores how health outcomes studies can be used to improve organizational performance.

Posted on December 22, 2015
An Update on United States Healthcare Quality Improvement Efforts

The National Strategy for Quality Improvement in Health Care was created in 2011 to guide national quality improvement efforts. This article provides an update on these efforts, five years later.

Posted on December 22, 2015
A Primer on Project Management for Health Care

Project management has emerged as one of the most prominent business skills of our time because its use can help control costs, reduce risk, and improve outcomes. Used across disciplines, project management is the process of systematically planning, organizing, and then executing a pre-determined set of steps in order to maximize resource use and achieve … Continue reading “A Primer on Project Management for Health Care”

Posted on December 17, 2015
Using Health Outcomes Research to Improve Quality of Care

Health outcomes research looks at the impact of different care models on health and provides guidance clinicians and hospital executives can use to make better decisions. This article provides an introduction to health outcomes research.

Posted on December 17, 2015
Leading Outside Your Authority

When most people think of being a leader, they think of guiding and influencing those over whom they have direct authority. This traditional form of leadership is often the easiest and most straightforward way to get work done, but formal authority is not the only kind of influence one can – or should – have … Continue reading “Leading Outside Your Authority”

Posted on November 6, 2015
Staying Relevant in the Midst of Health Care Reform: A Primer for Healthcare Executives

Dr. John McDonough, Professor of Public Health Practice at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, discusses the Affordable Care Act, health reform, and the changing health care landscape.

Posted on November 6, 2015
Teaching Patients About Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors: Communication is the First Step

In a world where obesity has reached epidemic proportions, medical professionals are faced with increasing pressure to help their patients lose weight and adopt healthy lifestyle habits. This is no easy task for clinicians, who often have little training in nutrition science or counseling patients on healthy lifestyle changes. “Most clinicians went into the profession … Continue reading “Teaching Patients About Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors: Communication is the First Step”

Posted on September 16, 2015
Five Ways to Improve Customer Experiences with Health IT

Information technology in the healthcare industry has the capacity to improve the experience of consumers, but it if not handled properly those efforts could backfire. For every wearable device and mobile app, there’s a potential security breach lurking in the shadows. With the ability to crunch Big Data comes the responsibility to present that data … Continue reading “Five Ways to Improve Customer Experiences with Health IT”

Posted on July 8, 2015
Healthcare IT is ‘Like the Plane that Doesn’t Crash’

When it comes to information technology, the health care industry is “clearly lagging behind,” according to Ashish Jha, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s K.T. Li Professor of International Health. We live in an era when anyone with a smartphone can host a business meeting, deposit a check, and navigate the quickest route home … Continue reading “Healthcare IT is ‘Like the Plane that Doesn’t Crash’”

Posted on July 8, 2015
A Healthy Workplace Starts in Bed

Employees who sleep better, work better, according to emerging research. Studies conducted by people like Nicolaas Pronk, adjunct professor of social and behavioral sciences at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, have broken ground when it comes to connecting the dots between productivity in the workplace and health indicators such as diet, exercise, and … Continue reading “A Healthy Workplace Starts in Bed”

Posted on June 26, 2015
The Business Benefits of a Healthy Workforce

Companies with strong health and wellness programs outperform others on the stock market, and some experts suggest the investment community could benefit from scrutinizing health and wellness metrics when they value companies. Robert McLellan, chief of occupational and environmental medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, is one of those experts. He’s co-author of a new paper in the … Continue reading “The Business Benefits of a Healthy Workforce”

Posted on June 1, 2015
Equipping Physicians To Manage The Rapidly Evolving World of Health Care

On Mother’s Day, 2003, 5-year-old Matthew Siravo, who had epilepsy, died at Boston Children’s Hospital, two days after suffering a seizure that lasted an hour and a half. Siravo’s story made headlines in the local news, and in September of that year, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health issued what The Boston Globe called “a … Continue reading “Equipping Physicians To Manage The Rapidly Evolving World of Health Care”

Posted on February 25, 2015