Daniel Hanley Center for Health Leadership

Building and Sustaining Leaders Among Rural Physicians

Building on the Hanley Center’s 12+ years of both working with physician leaders to understand their leadership development needs & developing longitudinal courses to impart necessary skills & tools for their success, the Hanley Center proposes a new initiative to support and develop rural physicians both in leadership & in wellness.

The initiative will:
(1) gather a steering committee of physician leaders in rural practice who are alumni of the Hanley Center’s PELI Advanced & Foundational Courses to share their experiences & expertise about leading in rural healthcare organizations to inform the objectives and curriculum for the project;
(2) based on steering committee input combined with the Hanley Center’s experience & expertise, develop a blended learning (virtual & in-person) curriculum geared toward rural physicians unable to attend longitudinal in-person leadership courses due to distance &/or cost, providing opportunity to build peer-to-peer support & a rural physician network necessary for professional development & wellness;
(3) build capacity of the Hanley Center team to lead a physician peer-to-peer virtual network by completing ECHO Model™ Immersion Training and developing the first Project ECHO™ model project focused on physician wellness in the country;
(4) launch a Project ECHO™ model initiative focused on physician peer support & wellness;
(5) recruit a cohort of 10-15 rural physicians and lead them a) through the pilot of a new blended leadership development curriculum focused on the challenges of rural healthcare delivery; and b) through the new Project ECHO™ model process;
(6) evaluate (through survey & interviews) both the blended learning curriculum & the Project ECHO™ model process at course end & 6 months after the Project ECHO™ model launch; &
(7) redesign the curriculum and make improvements to the Project ECHO™ model initiative based on physician feedback.