From the Exam Room to the Boardroom: Unlocking the Leadership Potential of Allied Health Professionals

Allied health professionals, including physical and occupational therapists, possess valuable yet often under-recognized leadership skills. This session will highlight how their clinical expertise, analytical thinking and patient-centered approach naturally transition into effective leadership competencies. Through insights from speakers who have moved from clinical practice to roles in military healthcare, health technology, policy and executive administration, attendees will learn how skills such as differential diagnosis and evidence-based decision-making align with leadership essentials like strategic visioning and team development.

Participants will acquire actionable strategies to transition into leadership roles, overcome imposter syndrome and build a strong leadership identity. The focus will be on enhancing emotional intelligence, strategic communication and clinical reasoning for organizational problem-solving, enabling them to lead interdisciplinary teams with confidence and empathy. For healthcare executives, the program offers methodologies to recognize and nurture leadership potential in clinical staff, strengthening the organization’s leadership pipeline and fostering a culture of growth. The session aims to increase confidence and competence in leadership for clinicians and executives, thereby enriching healthcare settings with a culture of leadership development. The panel will detail the transition from clinical to leadership roles, equipping allied health professionals with the tools to navigate their evolution from patient-facing roles to leadership positions in varied healthcare environments.

Allied health professional attendees will learn to:

• Translate clinical expertise into impactful leadership competencies


• Strengthen their leadership identity using emotional intelligence and strategic communication

Healthcare executives will learn to:

• Identify and develop allied health professionals with leadership potential, aligning clinical strengths with organizational leadership needs


• Implement frameworks supporting the advancement of allied health professionals into leadership positions

Attendees will leave with practical tools to develop a diverse executive leadership team, affirming that the journey from the exam room to the boardroom is a natural evolution for allied health professionals.