While women make up 70% of the health workforce—and comprise more than half of all medical, biomedical, and health science degree graduates—they hold just 25% of senior roles in the field. This gap is reflected in both the United States, where, according to one 2021 study, just 15% percent of health system CEOs are women, as well as in China, where, as recently as 2019, women accounted for only 6% of the academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the country’s premier research organization. In 2022, Michigan Medicine, in collaboration with Peking University Health Science Center (PKUHSC), garnered funding from the China Medical Board (CMB) to launch a new program, Preparing and Advancing Women for Leadership in the Health Sciences (PAWLHS). Through focused mentorship, executive coaching, skill-building workshops, and a one-year residency at the University of Michigan, this group of faculty, termed Women's Leadership Fellows, will develop a community of practice that will lead to local programming to benefit women throughout China and beyond.
Structure
The CMB Fellows selected for the program spend one year at Michigan Medicine that combines leadership training and a month-long clinical immersion. Participating scholars attend various leadership skills training workshops organized by the UMMS Faculty Development office. In addition, they are paired with an executive coach for 1-on-1 coaching, as well as UMMS mentors aligned with the scholars' relevant clinical and/or research interests. They also participate alongside UMMS faculty in institutional career development and skills training workshops. The weekly sessions led by UMMS experts across a variety of content areas, include:
- Hospital management and leadership development
- US healthcare finance and insurance
- Michigan Medicine research
- Effective manuscript preparation
- Grant applications
- Medical education overview
- Competency-based medical education curriculum
- Medical education evaluation and assessment
Finally, scholars conduct three presentations throughout their year-long training, culminating in a final presentation reflecting learning (i.e., a leader's role in change management) that can be shared back to PKUHSC.
Program Overview
Upon completion of the program, the fellows will gain:
- A better understanding of their own leadership style, and knowledge to identify a leadership style best aligned with their unique context.
- Practical tools, techniques, and strategies to improve their leadership impact and lead others effectively.
- Agility to adapt to the changing leadership landscape confidently, and skills and capabilities of a future leader.
- Access to a network of like-minded professionals, enabling the translation of knowledge, skills, and activities learned at UM into local programming.
- Ability to translate learnings into personal action upon returning to PKUHSC.
Eligibility
Participating Scholars are selected from Peking University Health Science Center. Scholars are selected because of their:
- strong educational background;
- exceptional academic/professional record, as well as English language proficiency to fulfill the program requirements at UMMS;
- potential for leadership in the health sciences;
- demonstrated motivation and strong interest in the pursuing leadership in the health sciences, and/or;
- past experience in a leadership role in a healthcare setting.
