Program for Chairs of Clinical Services
“The program far exceeded my expectations because of the depth and breadth of the topics. Would recommend this program to novice and experienced Chairs alike. There is something substantive for every level.” —Kathleen Pajer, MD, MPH, Professor and Chair of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa
About the Program
This program brings together chairs of major clinical departments in teaching hospitals for intensive and systematic study of the critical leadership and management issues facing chairs, their departments, and teaching hospitals
Program Fees
- Standard Price $11,600.00
Program Overview
Chairs of major clinical departments manage demanding tasks: patient care, teaching, research, and administration. The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified their role, requiring deeper involvement in institutional decision-making on staffing, budgets, and collaboration beyond their departments. This shift necessitates new leadership skills. The Program for Chairs of Clinical Services (PCCS) offers an intensive two-week study with interdisciplinary faculty to address these leadership and management challenges. The program curriculum is organized around the following interrelated courses taught by esteemed Harvard faculty:
- Leadership Challenges
- Competitive Strategy
- Health Policy
- Financial Analysis and Control
- Innovative Problem Solving
- Operations Management
- Organizational Issues
Upcoming Program Details
The program’s overall objective is to enhance and develop participants’ leadership abilities and effectiveness. This is accomplished by providing broader understanding of their responsibilities as leaders; perspective on some of the critical leadership and management issues they face; and understanding and awareness of concepts and techniques relevant to management.
Upon Completion of the Program, Participants Will Have Gained:
- Increased understanding of their responsibilities and tasks as leaders of clinical departments and members of the leadership group of their institution
- A broader appreciation of and insight into the external challenges facing, and changes occurring in, academic medical centers; the range of options and responses available; and the implications for their own institution, clinical service, and academic program
- New perspectives on issues they face currently and on those which arise in the future
- Knowledge of relevant concepts and techniques in several key management disciplines
- New methods to analyze problems and an enhanced capacity to identify the critical questions
- Greater effectiveness as departmental and institutional leaders in formulating and implementing new initiatives and managing change
All Times are Eastern Time (ET).
Sunday, January 25, 2026 | ||
---|---|---|
3:00–4:00 pm | Final Registration | |
4:00–5:00 pm | Opening Meeting | |
5:00–7:30 pm | Cocktail Reception & Program Dinner | |
7:30–8:00 pm | Meeting with Discussion Group Leaders | |
8:00–8:00 pm | Study Time | Monday, January 26, 2026 |
8:00–9:00 am | Discussion Groups | |
9:30–10:45 am | What is Leadership? | |
10:45–11:15 am | Break | |
11:15 am–12:30 pm | Introduction to Financial Analysis & Control | |
12:30–1:30 pm | Lunch | |
1:30–3:00 pm | Introduction to Strategy | Tuesday, January 27, 2026 |
8:00–8:45 am | Discussion Groups | |
8:45–9:00 am | Coffee Break | |
9:00–10:30 am | Provider Plan Negotiation | |
10:30–10:45 am | Refreshment Break | |
10:45 am–12:45 pm | You're It! Meta Leadership | |
12:45–1:45 pm | Lunch | |
1:45–3:45 pm | You're It! Meta Leadership | Wednesday, January 28, 2026 |
8:00–8:45 am | Discussion Groups | |
8:45–9:00 am | Coffee Break | |
9:00–10:30 am | Through the Looking Glass | |
10:30–11:00 am | Refreshment Break | |
11:00 am–12:30 pm | Full Cost Accounting | |
12:30–1:30 pm | Lunch | |
1:30–3:00 pm | Operations Management | Thursday, January 29, 2026 |
8:00–8:45 am | Discussion Group | |
8:45–9:00 am | Coffee Break | |
9:00–10:45 am | Leading Teams and Group Decision Making: The Value of Leaders | |
10:45–11:15 am | Refreshment Break | |
11:15 am–12:15 pm | Leading Teams and Group Decision Making: The Value of Leaders | |
12:15–1:15 pm | Lunch | |
1:15–2:45 pm | Differential Cost Accounting | |
2:45–3:00 pm | Week 2 Orientation | |
3:00–3:30 pm | Week 2 Discussion Group Leader's Meeting | Friday, January 30, 2026 |
8:00–8:45 am | Discussion Groups | |
8:45–9:00 am | Coffee Break | |
9:00–10:45 am | Strategy: UCSF/Stanford | |
10:45–11:15 am | Refreshment Break | |
11:15 am–12:45 pm | Managing Change and Transition | |
12:45–1:45 pm | Lunch | |
1:45–3:15 pm | Equity in Health Care | |
6:00–7:00 pm | Cocktail Reception at The Colonnade Hotel | Saturday, January 31, 2026 |
8:00–8:45 am | Discussion Groups | |
8:45–9:00 am | Coffee Break | |
9:00–10:45 am | Understanding Policy Change & Affordable Care Act | |
10:45–11:15 am | Refreshment Break | |
11:15 am–12:45 pm | Understanding Policy & Desegregation of US Hospitals in 1966 | |
12:45–1:45 pm | Lunch | |
1:45–3:15 pm | Management Control Structure | Monday, February 2, 2026 |
8:00–8:45 am | Discussion Groups | |
8:45–9:00 am | Coffee Break | |
9:00–11:00 am | Innovation | |
11:00–11:30 am | Break | |
11:30 am–1:00 pm | Management Control Structure & Process | |
1:00–2:00 pm | Lunch | |
2:00–3:30 pm | Integrating the Management Control Structure and Process | Tuesday, February 3, 2026 |
8:00–8:45 am | Discussion Groups | |
8:45–9:00 am | Coffee Break | |
9:00–10:30 am | Leading Teams and Group Decision Making: The Value of Teams | |
10:30–11:00 am | Break | |
11:00 am–12:30 pm | Leading Teams and Group Decision Making: The Value of Teams (cont.) | |
12:30–1:30 pm | Lunch | |
1:30–3:30 pm | Strategy: Hillside | Wednesday, February 4, 2026 |
8:00–8:45 am | Discussion Groups | |
8:45–9:00 am | Coffee Break | |
9:00–11:00 am | Hospital Operations: Patient Flow Management | |
11:00–11:30 am | Break | |
11:30 am–1:00 pm | Managing Conflict | |
1:00–2:00 pm | Lunch | |
2:00–4:00 pm | Managing Conflict (cont.) | Thursday, February 5, 2026 |
8:00–8:45 am | Discussion Group | |
8:45–9:00 am | Coffee Break | |
9:00–10:30 am | Transition from Physician to Leader | |
10:30–11:00 am | Break | |
11:00 am–12:30 pm | Strategy: Managing Governance at Reliance Hospital | |
12:30–1:30 pm | Lunch | |
1:30–3:30 pm | Physician Comp | |
6:45–7:00 pm | Travel to Harvard Loeb House | |
7:00–9:00 pm | Reception and Dinner Harvard Loeb House | Friday, February 6, 2026 |
8:00–8:45 am | Discussion Groups | |
8:45–9:00 am | Coffee Break | |
9:00–10:15 am | What's in Your Leadership Toolbox? | |
10:15–10:45 am | Break | |
10:45 am–12:15 pm | Disruptive Innovation | |
12:15–1:00 pm | Bringing the Learning Home | |
1:00–1:30 pm | Takeaway Lunch |
This agenda is subject to change.
Current faculty, subject to change
Renee Crichlow
Chief Medical Officer
Codman Square Health Center
Linda A. Cyr
Lecturer on Health Management
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Eric Dickson
President and CEO
UMass Memorial Health Care
Jeff Levin-Scherz
Assistant Professor
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Leonard J. Marcus
Director
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
John E. McDonough
Director, Center for Executive and Continuing Professional Education
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Gregg S. Meyer
Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Trishan Panch
Instructor
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Laurie Samuels Pascal
Senior Lecturer on Health Management
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Jo Shapiro
Associate Professor of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery
Harvard Medical School
Richard B. Siegrist Jr.
Senior Lecturer on Health Care Management
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Louise Weed
Instructor
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Theodore J. Witherell
Primary Faculty
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
The program is designed for chairs of major clinical departments in teaching hospitals whose responsibilities require them to allocate resources, develop policies, make difficult decisions in times of great uncertainty, and provide leadership. Potential participants report directly to the CEO/Dean and include heads of major departments of medicine, surgery, obstetrics-gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry, neurology, anesthesiology, pathology, and radiology. Participants will be selected with a view to ensuring an appropriate mix and balance in the class.
Credits & Logistics
Early application is encouraged. Qualified candidates are admitted on a rolling, space-available basis, and programs often fill early. We will continue to accept applications until the program reaches capacity. No payment is due at the time of application. Applicants who are admitted to the program are required to pay the program fee to reserve their place.
Please note: Because this is a full-time, residential program and because of the cumulative and interactive nature of the educational experience, applicants who are accepted must plan and agree to attend and participate in all sessions of the program.
How to Apply
For your convenience, you may review the list of application questions for the program. We advise applicants to prepare their answers in a word document and then cut and paste them into the online application in order to avoid losing their work in the unlikely event of technical difficulty. Once your answers have been prepared and you are ready to continue with the application process please click the “apply now” button. Thank you for your cooperation, we look forward to reviewing your application.
All participants will receive a Certificate of Participation upon completion of the program.
This program also contributes to the 3-program Executive Leadership in Health Care Certificate of Specialization. Click here for more information.
January 2026
Please check back for updated information.
The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health designates this live activity for a maximum of 42.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health will grant 4.3 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for this program, equivalent to 42.75 contact hours of education. Participants can apply these contact hours toward other professional education accrediting organizations.
All credits subject to final agenda.