Customized Physician Leadership Development

The Medical Society of Virginia Foundation offers customized physician leadership development sessions for health systems and other interested organizations. Physicians often find themselves in positions of leadership – within their practices, their health systems, their communities, and the larger health arena. While medical school prepares physicians to successfully overcome a wide variety of clinical challenges, it is unlikely to have supplied the basic principles and practices of effective leadership. MSVF offers this leadership development program to provide practical training and resources to assist physicians in their daily environments, both in their practice and within their larger organization or community.

MSVF recommends topics such as Physician Leadership Fundamentals, State and National Healthcare Policy Trends, Marketing and Media 101, Effective People Skills, Health System Financials, and Organizational Change Management. Additional topics can be selected based on an organization’s needs. Sessions are conducted by respected local, state, and national speakers. These sessions offer Continuing Medical Education (CME) credit hours through the Office of Continuing Professional Development and Evaluation Studies at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine.

What MSVF Does:

• Suggests topics
• Drafts the agenda
• Identifies, retains, and coordinates with speakers on content and logistics
• Handles the CME process and paperwork
• Handles session materials and handouts
• Coordinates with the support staff to host the session

Organization Expectations:

• Designate a point person to work with MSVF – preferably a physician or member of senior leadership team
• Designate one support staff person to work with MSVF before and on training day(s)
• Discuss the organization’s leadership development goals and objectives with MSVF
• Suggest appropriate local speakers/consultants
• Recruit physicians for the training (provide a list of names with email and brief bio to MSVF)
• Present the Welcome at the training session

MSVF or the organization can arrange for the session space (conference room with audio/visual support) and meals/refreshments depending on the session attendance.

To explore this leadership training in more detail, please contact Katy Sawyer, Director of MSVF’s Claude Moore Physician Leadership Institute at 804-377-1004.

To date, MSVF has provided a 2008 and 2009 Leadership Development Series for Riverside Medical Group, and 2009 sessions for HCA VA and Rockingham Memorial Hospital, and additional events have been requested for 2010.