UCSF Health: Academy for Healthcare Leadership

Designed for seasoned people leaders navigating complexity, competing priorities, and limited resources. Gain tools to lead high-performing teams, drive innovation, translate data into insights, and communicate with influence. By the end, you’ll have the skills, confidence, and strategic perspective to advance your organization and your leadership.

Why Join This Program? 

Healthcare leaders today face complex systems, competing priorities, and the pressure to drive meaningful impact with fewer resources and increased uncertainty. This 13-week program equips seasoned leaders with the tools to navigate organizational complexity, lead high-performing teams, and foster a culture of trust, engagement, and well-being. You’ll learn to drive change and innovation, translate data into actionable insights, and communicate with influence across diverse audiences. You’ll also gain financial and operational acumen to align initiatives with organizational priorities, while building a clear plan for your career growth and professional legacy. By the end of the program, you’ll have the skills, confidence, and strategic perspective to make a bigger impact on your organization and advance your leadership journey.

What You’ll Gain:

• Strategic Leadership: Strengthen your ability to navigate complex healthcare systems, build trust, and communicate with influence across diverse audiences.
• Performance & Quality Improvement: Apply proven frameworks to measure outcomes, drive continuous improvement, and align projects with institutional priorities.
• Innovation & Change Leadership: Learn to foster creativity, lead change effectively, and design solutions that advance organizational transformation.
• Financial & Operational Acumen: Build confidence in financial management, ROI analysis, and project planning to demonstrate value and sustainability.
• Career & Legacy Development: Define your leadership pathway, expand your professional network, and articulate your long-term impact as a healthcare leader.  

Who Should Apply?

Designed for experienced healthcare leaders with 5+ years of management or leadership experience, this program is for those ready to deepen their leadership skills, drive organizational change, and advance their careers in complex healthcare environments. 

Program Structure 

In addition to learning sessions, participants will:

• Complete assigned pre-work prior to each session.
• Apply concepts from the program to implement a leadership change initiative in a work setting and share results at the end of the program.
• Meet with an executive coach for 2, 60-minute virtual sessions to support their leadership development.

Program Expectations

Participants are expected to:

• Attend all live learning sessions as scheduled (28 hours) 
  • Must attend at least 80% of the scheduled learning session time to be eligible for continuing education credits and a certificate of completion. All missed sessions require make-up work to be eligible for credits and a certificate.
• Complete assigned pre-work for each session (~1 hour per session, 7 hours total) 
  • Pre-work may include readings, videos, podcasts, and psychometric assessments to help contextualize the content and conversations of the live learning sessions. 
• Complete a leadership change initiative and share results (~13 hours) 
  • Collect baseline data to substantiate that a problem needs to be addressed 
  • Meet with your supervisor or initiative sponsor about your initiative between each learning session for support and to troubleshoot challenges.  
  • Apply quality improvement and change management principles into the development of a change initiative plan
  • Conduct the necessary work in your area to make progress on your change initiative. 

Testimonials

“I will be forever indebted for the relationships I've built while being part of this cohort. A key takeaway has been the A3 way of thinking and getting comfortable asking the many but necessary "why?" which I will certainly use within the next 30 days (I'm already exercising that now)!"

“This program has had a meaningful impact on both my personal and professional development. It has deepened my awareness of the ways bias can show up in everyday interactions and decision-making, and it has equipped me with practical strategies to recognize and address it. I feel more confident fostering inclusive environments, and I’m more intentional in how I communicate, collaborate, and lead. Overall, it’s strengthened my commitment to equity and has encouraged me to be a more mindful and empathetic professional.”

“This was a really great program and enjoyed it.  I also enjoyed the project.” 

Continuing Education  

UCSF Leadership Institute is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. Participants will be awarded 28 Contact Hour(s) for participation in the course.

Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider # CEP 12980, for 28 Contact Hour(s)

Apply Here

Application Deadline: 11/14/25

Notified of Acceptance: 11/21/25

Deadline to Confirm Participation: 12/5/25

FAQs 

1. What work do I need to do for the leadership change initiative before and during the program?  

   1. We encourage you to work closely with the leadership in your area to select a problem that has already been identified in your work area and has data to indicate it is a problem. All problems must connect to at least one of the UCSF Health True North Pillars and to strategic priorities within your work area. 

   2. As part of your application to the program, you must submit a description of a challenge/problem in your work area that you want to address, 1-2 baseline metrics that provide evidence that it is a problem, a target for what change you hope to see with your problem after implementing a change, and how your outcomes will be measured.  

   3. Throughout the program, you’ll learn strategies to introduce change, measure outcomes, and share results. Your supervisor (or organizational initiative sponsor) will be required to support the strategy and implementation of your change initiative through regular check-ins with you throughout the program. You should take the lead with scheduling meetings with your initiative sponsor to set yourself up for success with the project. This hands-on initiative allows you to apply leadership skills to real challenges – and gives you a sustainable process to use and create a lasting impact throughout your career. 

2. What are examples of problems that others addressed for the change initiative? 
   1. Team engagement scores were below expectations in areas like recognition and perceived value of opinions.
   2. Steroid administration for patients with acute asthma exacerbation is longer than national standards. 
   3. No standardized scoring tool or method to document risk level in the EHR which can impact patient safety.