School of Medicine Launches Leadership Academy for Faculty
The Academy Will Be Led by Former Radiology Chair Dr. Zvi Lefkovitz
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The School of Medicine (SOM) has launched a Leadership Academy to prepare emerging and current faculty leaders from both the basic science and clinical departments at New York Medical College (NYMC) to more effectively lead people, teams, and programs. The Academy will be directed by Zvi Lefkovitz, M.D., professor of radiology, who previously served as chair of the Departments of Radiology at NYMC and at Westchester Medical Center for 17 years before retiring from those roles in June.
“In recent years, we have worked to provide our faculty with opportunities for professional and career development in medical education through the creation of our Academy of Medical Educators,” said Neil W. Schluger, M.D., SOM dean. “We are now expanding those opportunities through the Leadership Academy, and, given his extensive leadership experience, I can’t think of anyone better suited to lead this new initiative than Dr. Lefkovitz.”
The Leadership Academy is an eight-month longitudinal program designed to build and strengthen leadership skills in self-awareness, communication, collaboration, strategic thinking, and organizational leadership in academic medicine. Participants will engage in interactive learning sessions and independent activities, complete leadership assessments, and develop a leadership project that applies their learning to their own real-world challenge.
“The program will rely heavily on active learning and engagement,” said Dr. Lefkovitz. “We want participants to be constantly engaged, speaking, and interacting with one another, with lots of peer interaction, experiential learning, and coaching. All of the sessions will be conducted in person, and I will be available to participants throughout the program for individual discussions, meetings, and coaching as well.”
Dr. Lefkovitz also stressed that emphasis will be placed on practical leadership skills, which can be applied immediately, wherever they work, and that members of the Leadership Academy cohort will be expected to apply concepts between sessions and share the feedback they received with the group.
“There will be a lot of peer discussion,” he continued. “I was in leadership for 35 years, so I’ve had some real-world leadership challenges over the years. It will be very interesting to discuss how they worked out, or didn't work out, as the case may be. The cohort will be working very closely together, and we're looking to develop a really close-knit group, which we hope will have a connection for years to come.”
More information on the Leadership Academy is available on the NYMC Website.
