Psychologists in Academic Health Centers and Medical Centers: Being Visible, Relevant and Integral

Leadership for Psychologists in Academic Health Centers (L-PAHC): Establishing a Leadership Conference Curriculum

Psychologists have unique and valuable skill sets that are increasingly recognized and desired for leadership positions within academic health centers (AHCs; Kirch and Ast, in J Clin Psychol Med Settings 24:86-91, 2017). Despite this trend, there are not many specialized leadership training opportunities for psychologists employed at AHCs. The Leadership for Psychologists in Academic Health Centers (L-PAHC) Conference was conceptualized and implemented as a virtual conference offering to address this professional development need. This paper details the conference overview, target audience, content, and speakers, scheduling and implementation, and evaluation and feedback from the inaugural L-PAHC Virtual Conference. The conference was well attended (n = 97), with a range of career stages represented (41% early, 45% mid-career, 14% late career). Attendees included APAHC members (76.3%) and non-members, most of whom were already serving in leadership roles (86%). Interactive conference engagement was high, and feedback was generally positive and indicative of attainment of conference training goals (M = 4.85 of possible 5; SD = 0.36). All respondents recommended that L-PAHC should be held again and most reported that they would return. The L-PAHC Conference was well received and highly rated for addressing leadership training needs for psychologists in AHCs. Specific feedback and recommendations for future leadership training are provided.

Psychologists' Opportunities for Fostering Leadership Skills in Academic Medicine: The Rothenberger Leadership Academy

Healthcare leaders must increasingly attend to the monumental challenges facing their organizations (Angood and Falcone, American Association for Physician Leadership, 2023). As such, leadership in healthcare settings demands new skills sets amongst healthcare professionals that transcend the technical skills of any given profession. Academic health center psychologists are well-positioned to contribute to the leadership of academic health centers due to knowledge, skills, and attitudes fostered in doctoral psychology education, practice, and research through the focus on Profession-Wide Competencies. This article calls for psychologists to pursue more leadership opportunities within academic health centers. The article starts by identifying parallels between psychology's Profession-Wide Competencies and needed leadership skills/concepts for healthcare leaders. An example of an academic health center psychologist's leadership in a cohort-based physician leadership program illustrates how Profession-Wide Competencies were used in three structural elements of the leadership program. The article identifies particular leadership opportunities for psychologists within academic health centers.

Exploring the Impact of Mentoring on Faculty Engagement and Retention Among Behavioral Health Faculty in Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology

Mentoring plays an integral role in the success of faculty. This study explores faculty access to formal and informal mentorship and how mentorship impacts faculty engagement. Data are from 2020 to 2023 administrations of the StandPoint Faculty Engagement Survey. We compare clinically active faculty with a PhD or other health doctorate (OHD) in departments of psychiatry and neurology (Doctoral-PN) with both faculty with an MD or equivalent degree in those departments (Physician-PN), and with faculty with a PhD or OHD in other clinical departments (Doctoral-Other). Psychologists who are active in clinical care are represented in these departments although their representation likely varies by institution. Forty-four percent of Doctoral-PN faculty received formal mentoring and 65% received informal mentoring. Those receiving formal mentoring were more satisfied with professional development opportunities and reported increased understanding of promotion than those who were not. They were also more satisfied with their department and would recommend their medical school to others. The literature to date acknowledges the challenges to professional growth and advancement faced by Doctoral-PN faculty, including psychologists, practicing in academic health centers. This paper adds to previous research by presenting data on organizational outcomes associated with mentoring for these faculty.

Current Landscape of Psychologists in Academic Health Centers: Roles and Structural Models

With mental health needs consistently increasing in our communities and medical centers, we want to ensure that institutions are aware of the benefit and value that psychologists bring to their system and provide several pathways for consideration and structure to understand how to support the salaries and careers of psychologists working within AHCs. Leadership and administration within Academic Health Centers (AHC) often do not understand the value and measurement of productivity for psychologists being added to the medical teams. The current article aims to present varied structural models and demonstrate how productivity is reviewed for psychologists across different institutions and departments. The authors will outline the many roles that psychologists serve within academic health centers as well as the value those roles bring to the system. The overarching goal is to provide an educational article that serves as a tool for recruitment of psychologists that leaders and faculty can refer to when approaching administration in AHCs to understand the systems and roles of psychologists within medical settings. This information can be utilized to help create new positions for psychologists, aid in recruitment efforts and provide transparency for faculty currently working within AHCs who may not be aware of the varied opportunities.

Physician Communication Coaching: How Psychologists can Elevate Skills and Support Resident Education, Professionalism, and Well-being

Many factors influence resident physician communication, including rigorous training demands that can contribute to professionalism issues or burnout. The University of Rochester Physician Communication Coaching program launched for attendings in 2011, and expanded to residency programs within 11 clinical departments of our institution. In this model, psychologists serve as coaches, drawing on their expertise in communication skills, behavior change, and wellness promotion. These coaches conduct real-time observation of patient encounters, coding communication with an expanded Cambridge-Calgary Patient-Centered Observational Checklist. Residents receive a written report with individualized feedback. From 2013 to 2020, 279 residents were coached. Since 2018, residents have been formally surveyed for feedback (n = 70 surveys completed; 61% response rate), with 97% rating the experience Very Helpful or Helpful. Of the 70 completed surveys, 54 (77%) included qualitative feedback that has also been positive. Due to the feasibility and growing demand for communication coaching from other residency and fellowship programs, in 2018 two authors (SM and LD-R) developed a 2-year, part-time program to train communication coaches.

Psychologists' Leadership Roles and Leadership Training Needs in Academic Health Centers

Psychologists are increasingly called upon to become more involved in academic health centers (AHCs) as leaders across a range of leadership roles in areas such as the clinical, teaching, and research missions, and in the administration thereof. Similarly, expansion of psychologists' service in national associations, boards, and other forums is increasing. This paper attempts to delineate the nature and extent of psychologists' involvement in leadership roles and their needs for professional leadership development to assist them in securing and succeeding in these positions. Members of the Association of Psychologists in Academic Health Centers (APAHC) were invited to complete a survey to identify current leadership roles and training needed to enhance leadership capabilities. Most (75%) of the respondents (total n = 105; 42% of APAHC full members; 70% female) were currently serving in leadership roles (range 1 to ≥ 10 positions). Years since degree conferred was positively associated with the number of leadership positions. Diversity of roles was delineated across AHC missions including psychology training (49.5%), clinical service (33.3%), and research (26.7%). An important subgroup (11.5%) served in upper-level administrative leadership positions. Leadership roles external to AHCs were common, particularly service ion committees (30.5%) and boards (27.6%) in state and national professional organizations. Half (51.4%) of survey respondents endorsed at least one leadership development need, with approximately 10% endorsing leadership development needs in all areas. The most common leadership development need was financial management skills, endorsed by nearly two-thirds of the sample. Early career respondents recognized more needs than advanced career respondents. AHC psychologists are expanding their leadership roles and distinguishing themselves as important contributors in AHCs. Despite this, many identified needs for further leadership training.

Interprofessional Education: Opportunities and Challenges for Psychology

This manuscript is an outgrowth of an invited panel presentation at the national Association for Psychologists in Academic Health Centers Conference in 2017 on Interprofessional Education (IPE). IPE is a structured and transformative educational strategy designed to provide active learning experiences where trainees from diverse healthcare professions gain shared content knowledge plus collaboration skills as they learn about, from, and with each other. Collaboration skills include understanding professional role distinctions and overlap, effective team-based communication, shared values/ethics and respect for each other's expertise, and teamwork dynamics. It is increasingly important to expand training beyond the intraprofessional activities in which psychology trainees engage to prepare them to participate in interprofessional collaborative care. As healthcare systems move to team-based collaborative practice and value-based reimbursement models, the profession of psychology needs leaders at every academic health center to facilitate the design and/or implementation of IPE activities. The panel of psychologists presented roles that psychologists play in IPE institutional program design and implementation, graduate training programs, and the perspectives of an early career psychologist and psychology trainee. Opportunities and challenges are highlighted, culminating in a call to action. Psychologists must embrace their identity as health professionals and engage their learners in IPE so that the emerging cognitive schemata of healthcare that is developed includes the profession of psychology. Otherwise, healthcare teams and health professionals will not understand the value, roles, or potential contributions of psychologists in enhancing patient care outcomes, ultimately jeopardizing psychologists' referrals, involvement in healthcare delivery, and career opportunities.

Training for Leadership Roles in Academic Medicine: Opportunities for Psychologists in the AAMC LEAD Program

Psychologists' roles within academic medicine have expanded well beyond research and scholarship. They are active as providers of patient care, medical education, and clinical supervision. Although the number of psychologists in academic health centers continues to grow, they represent a small portion of total medical school faculties. However, with the movement toward collaborative care models, emphasis on interprofessional teams, and increased emphasis on psychological science topics in medical curricula, psychologists are well-positioned to make further contributions. Another path through which psychologists can further increase their contributions and value within academic health centers is to aspire to leadership roles. This article describes the first author's reflections on her experiences in a two-year, cohort-based, educational leadership development certificate program in academic medicine. The cohort was comprised largely of physicians and basic scientists, and a small number of non-physician participants of which the first author was the only clinical psychologist. The insights gained from this experience provide recommendations for psychologists interested in leadership opportunities in academic medicine.

Quality Improvement in Health Care: The Role of Psychologists and Psychology

Quality Improvement (QI) is a health care interprofessional team activity wherein psychology as a field and individual psychologists in health care settings can and should adopt a more robust presence. The current article makes the argument for why psychology's participation in QI is good for health care, is good for our profession, and is the right thing to do for the patients and families we serve. It reviews the varied ways individual psychologists and our profession can integrate quality processes and improve health care through: (1) our approach to our daily work; (2) our roles on health care teams and involvement in organizational initiatives; (3) opportunities for teaching and scholarship; and (4) system redesign and advocacy within our health care organizations and health care environment.

Now is the Time for Psychology to Support the Transformation of Academic Health Centers

Psychologists have made important contributions in academic health centers (AHC), but the reputation of psychology as a discipline has been mixed, by turns viewed as a superfluous soft science, or seen as an important contributor to the AHC mission. AHCs currently face exceptional challenges to the viability of AHCs, including: planned alterations from fee-for-service to value-based funding that requires high quality at lower cost; and rising demands to demonstrate competence in trainees. Now more than ever, psychologists can and must help AHCs to meet these challenges.

Career Development and Promotion in an Academic Health Center

This paper examines the successive stages of the career path for psychologists who commit to spending their professional lives working in academic health centers. Key factors for success at each stage are described, as are the steps required for progressing to subsequent stages of professional development. The paper breaks new ground by including consideration of a post-retirement stage, "Professor Emeritus status."