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

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.

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.