Paths to Leadership
A School of Medicine Program for Developing Faculty Leaders
Paths to Leadership is a leadership development program offered by the Division of Management and intended for School of Medicine faculty who want to make a difference at OHSU. Paths to Leadership invites you to reconnect with your professional purpose and clearly articulate the meaningful difference you wish to make, whether caring for patients, influencing the next generation of learners, and/or generating new knowledge about human health and health care. You will learn to exercise leadership within your current role by partnering with key stakeholders whose support is needed to move your vision forward, while appreciating senior leaders' priorities in a new light. Past participants have reported a sense of increased personal meaning and joy as well as deeper engagement with OHSU and its important missions.
Schedule and Time Commitment
There is no dollar cost to participants or participants' departments for this program for the cohort beginning in January 2023. The 2023 program runs from Tuesday, January 10, to Tuesday, June 13, on consecutive Tuesdays from 4:30-6:00 PM. Typically, participants will spend 2-4 hours per week in pre- and post-session reading and project work. We anticipate that the 2023 cohort will meet primarily via videoconference although we are exploring adding one video/in-person hybrid session per month.
Download this flyer for more information and a list of topics
Application Details
Applications for Paths to Leadership 2023 are now closed. Please check back in Fall 2023 for information about the next cohort.

Over the past decade, Paths to Leadership has served more than 300 faculty leaders from across the School of Medicine. See what they have to say and view a full list of departments and individual participants below.
- "The diversity of leadership skills was inspiring, there is no single path.
- "It helped me think about plans and the future in ways I should have done earlier but never found the time to do."
- "Any academic physician needs this training. "
- "What I learned is that I need to start with myself - that to be an effective leader I need to step outside of my comfortable ways of thinking and interacting in order to hear and understand others."
FAQs
For Whom Is This Program Intended?
Paths to Leadership is intended for School of Medicine faculty who want to make a difference at OHSU. It is for faculty who are currently in—or taking on—formal or informal leadership roles within their departments, divisions, or elsewhere in the School of Medicine or OHSU. Individuals who are considering taking on such roles or wish to develop their individual leadership skills are invited to apply.
Why Do This Program?
Through Paths to Leadership participants will:
- Develop a leadership mindset (i.e., learn how to think—and act—like leaders).
- Cultivate an increased understanding of OHSU and how they can make a difference.
- Make a significant contribution to an important OHSU issue through a learn-by-doing leadership practicum.
- Connect with both senior and emerging leaders at OHSU.
How Will OHSU Benefit?
OHSU will benefit from Paths to Leadership by:
- Improving its leadership and management capacity
- Leveraging participants' experience to address organizational issues
- Promoting a learning culture
- Developing and sustaining champions for change
Other Questions?
Contact the Paths to Leadership Co-Directors, Professors Niki Steckler, PhD or Jim Huntzicker, PhD at hcmanagement@ohsu.edu for more information.