Reaching New Levels of Excellence

The first charge of the L.E.A.D. Office was to conduct a department-wide assessment survey among pediatric faculty to gauge their needs, concerns and aspirations. We identified a widespread desire for further academic enrichment and cultural competence training.

In response, L.E.A.D. established a series of monthly faculty development workshops to help our physicians reach new levels of excellence and innovation in education, clinical care and research.

In these sessions, junior and mid-level faculty members receive hands-on guidance from senior faculty on a variety of relevant topics including research, teaching, mentorship, cultural competence and academic advancement.

In partnership with the Office of Faculty Development at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, L.E.A.D. has also hosted Navigating Your Career: Using the Promotion Process as Your Guide,” a six-month career development workshop-series for CHAM faculty.

Throughout these sessions, senior faculty members coached more junior colleagues on research, teaching, developing curriculum and obtaining promotions. Participants worked on defining and achieving their academic goals, through such steps as improving and fine-tuning their CVs and teaching portfolios. The success of this workshop-series led to the implementation of weekly individual faculty mentorship sessions.

In addition, the L.E.A.D. Office has launched a department-wide Annual Faculty Assessment process, which focuses on past clinical, educational and scholarship achievements, as well as future short and long-term goals. We have also produced an orientation handout to facilitate the credentialing process and expedite the seamless integration of newly hired pediatric faculty.