Founded in 2007, the Health Systems and Leadership (HSL) track within the Pathway in Health and Society provides physician-trainees with the knowledge, skills, and mentorship necessary to prepare for leadership careers in healthcare systems improvement.

HSL welcomes participation by residents and fellows with prior experience and/or interest in healthcare administration, organizational management, systems or quality improvement, safety, and health policy. The program consists of 3 core elements:

1. A 2-year, longitudinal curriculum--including regular half-day sessions while on elective/outpatient rotations and 2 week-long "seminars" annually--that emphasizes personal development of high-yield leadership skills, core knowledge in both systems improvement (quality & safety) and current health policy, and novel frameworks for individual inquiry.
2. Active group and individual mentorship by HSL faculty and exposure to high-impact leaders from across the healthcare industry.
3. A challenging, intensive group project each spring that addresses current quality or policy concerns for important clients, whose utilization of our recommendations will positively impact healthcare delivery in major ways within and beyond UCSF. Recent clients include UCSF Medical Center and the Pacific Business Group on Health.

Housestaff presenting their work to the Pacific Business Group on Health

Housestaff celebrate after their successful presentation

Graduates of the HSL track have successfully pursued positions with top-tier GME fellowship programs (cardiology, pulmonary/critical care, gastroenterology, endocrinology, general internal medicine), general internal medicine and hospital medicine faculty jobs at UCSF and Stanford, and community practice in Seattle, the Bay Area, and Los Angeles.

The HSL track is open to all medicine residents, though we recommend selecting the categorical program if possible to minimize scheduling conflicts with program requirements in the primary care tracks. Interested current and prospective housestaff should contact the faculty leadership and/or visit our website.

For additional information or questions please contact:

Arpana Vidyarthi, MD
Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine,
Director, Health Systems and Leadership Track,
Pathway to Discovery in Health and Society
University of California, San Francisco
arpana@medicine.ucsf.edu

Read Pierce, MD
Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, SFVAMC
Associate Director, Health Systems and Leadership Track,
Pathway to Discovery in Health and Society
University of California, San Francisco
read.pierce@ucsf.edu
415-221-4810, X6323