Clinician Leadership Program

  • Executive Education
Medical team in consultation, reviewing patient information and making decisions for care.
Register Now

-

Registration Deadline: May 14

Bridge the gap between clinical expertise and leadership capability that undermines clinicians’ ability to drive meaningful, system-level change.

  • Blended

Self-paced learning complemented by live sessions with faculty and weekly office hours conducted by program leaders.

$7,550

Flexible payment and team-based learning options are available.

Certificate

Upon completion of this program, you will receive a digital certificate from Harvard Medical School.

17 Weeks

Each week you will engage with recorded video lectures from faculty, attend webinars and office hours, complete quizzes and required activities, engage in moderated discussion groups with, and work on your final project, if required.

On This Page

Overview

Increasing system complexity, rapid technological change, and rising demands on care teams are reshaping what it means to lead in health care. Clinicians are often asked to step into leadership roles without formal training in organizational decision-making, cross-functional collaboration, or strategic leadership within health systems, gaps that can undermine confidence, influence, and impact at critical moments.

The Clinician Leadership Program from Harvard Medical School Executive Education is a 17-week program designed to equip practicing physicians, nurses, advanced practice providers, pharmacists, and other health care professionals with the skills to lead with purpose and clarity. Combining academic rigor with practical application and an optional on-campus immersion, the program builds adaptive, interpersonal, and systems-level leadership capabilities. Participants explore leadership in the age of artificial intelligence (AI), with a focus on the responsible integration of AI tools in health care, empowering you to navigate complexity, drive meaningful change, and take on expanded leadership roles with confidence.

Learning Objectives

  • Demonstrate clear communication and adaptive leadership to build collaboration, trust, and alignment across clinical and organizational teams.
  • Lead and optimize teams, structures, and processes to enhance performance, quality, and patient or organizational outcomes.
  • Apply frameworks and innovative thinking to guide decision-making and problem-solving in complex health care environments.
  • Evaluate organizational priorities, systems, and risk tolerance to promote sustainable improvement and resilience in clinical practice.
  • Implement influence, negotiation, and interdisciplinary leadership strategies that accelerate results and advance key initiatives.
Executive Education Logo Executive Education

Who Should Participate

Emerging and early-career health care leaders—including clinicians, advanced practice providers, and administrators—who want to build core leadership competencies, expand strategic influence, and drive meaningful change across today’s complex health care systems.

Questions?

Contact one of our program advisors at learner.success@emeritus.org.

This Harvard Medical School Executive Education program is taught by HMS faculty and is promoted by Emeritus. Emeritus is responsible for advertising, marketing, registration, and collecting payment.

This program does not grant academic credit or professional certifications from Harvard Medical School. 

Curriculum

The program curriculum consists of 17 modules organized into four leadership pillars that progressively build the skills required to strengthen cross-functional relationships and lead change in complex health systems. There are 12 online modules to establish foundational knowledge, combined with five live online modules for deeper exploration of concepts and peer exchange.

Modules

Develop the self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and behaviors needed to operate at the management and executive levels. Assess your personal leadership style and time management habits, and identify solutions to improve productivity.

Module 1: Managing Yourself and Leading Others

Module 3: Leading with Intention: Managing Time and Priorities Effectively (live online)

Module 4: Leading with Emotional Intelligence 

Learn ways to adopt mindfulness in a leadership context. Enhance your ability to better understand and empathize with others. Practice using the Advocacy Inquiry Method for feedback and difficult conversations.

Module 2: Leadership Presence: Practical Skills for Leading with Confidence 

Module 5: From Self-Understanding to Self-Management 

Module 6: The Power of Empathy and Perspective-Taking

Module 7: Leading across Generations (live online)

Create a comprehensive strategic plan to foster productive team environments. Recognize how generational differences and diverse backgrounds influence communication, motivation, and collaboration in health systems. Explore approaches to negotiate and maintain relationships during conflicts.

Module 8: Leading High-Performing Teams 

Module 9: Utilizing the Advocacy-Inquiry Framework to Communicate With Candor and Curiosity (live online)

Module 11: Difficult Conversations: Negotiation and Feedback

Prepare to lead at scale by integrating data, emotion, culture, creative thinking, change management, and emerging technologies, including AI. Understand how organizations function, how culture shapes behavior, and how leaders influence systems, strategy, and long-term improvement across health systems. Examine the impact of AI on global health care leadership and its potential to improve leadership effectiveness. 

Module 10: Understanding and Influencing Others 

Module 12: Skill and Agility in Decision Making

Module 13: Culture in Action: A Leader’s Influence in Health Care (live online)

Module 14: Understanding the Culture Where You Lead 

Module 15: Leading for Innovation

Module 16: The Leader’s Guide to Managing Change

Module 17: Leadership in the Age of AI (live online)

Other Key Components

Connect with faculty and peers in person during a two-day networking event at the Harvard Medical School campus in Boston, Massachusetts.

At the end of select modules, complete a reflection activity designed to help you connect key concepts with your own clinical and organizational context. Together, the Leadership Lens activities form a personalized collection of insights that deepen your understanding of what leadership looks like in practice.

The program’s reflective capstone unfolds across the modules and guides you through four connected stages of leadership development: defining meaningful leadership, leading with self-awareness and presence, leading teams and making decisions, and planning for sustainable impact. You will create a personalized record of your leadership evolution and a practical roadmap for continued growth.

Teaching Team

Dr. Hayes

Margaret Hayes

MD

  • Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
  • Director, Medical Intensive Care Unit
  • Director, External Education, Carl J. Shapiro Institute for Education and Research
  • Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Margaret C. Andrews.

Margaret C. Andrews

  • Instructor, Harvard University
  • Managing Director, The MYLO Center
  • Executive Education Teaching Associate, Harvard Medical School
Rob Anthony.

Rob Anthony

  • Professor of Management, Hult International Business School
David McIntosh.

David McIntosh

  • Instructor, Harvard University
  • Executive Author, Facilitator, and Speaker

Explore Related Programs

Coaching in Leadership and Health Care

Explore how evidence-based coaching can shape a more compassionate, innovative, and resilient future at this two-day conference featuring world-class scientists, thought leaders, and coaching experts. Engage with cutting-edge insights at the intersection of leadership and well-being, designed for coaches and professionals committed to advancing human potential.

  • Continuing Education
  • In Person

Dates: -

For: Coaches, Specialty Physicians, Psychologists, Nurse Practitioners, Primary Care Physicians, Nurses, Social Workers, and Physician Assistants

Executive Program for Senior Life Sciences Leaders

In the rapidly evolving landscape of life sciences, significant transformations are underway, propelled by digitalization, evolving advancements in artificial intelligence, demographic shifts, escalating cost pressures, critical scientific breakthroughs, and the emergence of formidable competitors.

  • Executive Education
  • Blended
  • Application Deadline Approaching:

Dates: -

For: Professionals poised at the intersection of innovation, leadership, and strategy within the life sciences industry.

Global Health Care Leaders Program

Gain experiential insights into cutting-edge health care innovation and build a powerful network of experts and peer leaders across health care.

  • Executive Education
  • Blended
  • Application Deadline Approaching:

Dates: -

For: Professionals who seek the latest insights into this dynamic and complex industry, in order to become better leaders and innovators in their organization.

In order to comply with applicable U.S. export control and sanctions regulations, Harvard Medical School prohibits access to and use of Harvard Medical School educational offerings, programs and resources to individuals from certain sanctioned regions or who are otherwise subject to U.S. government sanctions, unless appropriate authorization is in place.

Program Topics