A Scalable Leadership Development Model for Advanced Practice Providers

With nearly 450 Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and over 2,300 APPs across our broader health system, we identified a need to strengthen the APP leadership structure to support this rapidly growing workforce. As the number of APPs expanded, the Senior Advanced Practice leadership team recognized that intentional leadership development was essential to ensure these clinicians could successfully transition into formal leadership roles. Many APPs were assuming leadership responsibilities managing large teams and navigating complex organizational systems without formal leadership training or adequate support, creating a critical gap that needed to be addressed. The Emerging Leaders Program is a structured, scalable initiative designed to build foundational leadership competencies in new clinical leaders. It was developed collaboratively by APP leaders who had extensive experience leading at the local, organizational and health system level. A standardized leadership program was designed, merging theory and practice and providing actionable training aligned with Korn Ferry’s leadership competency model. While this program is fundamentally about leadership training, it also supports broader team and workforce outcomes around engagement, retention, team building and peer support, as it enters its third year.

Key curriculum components include: strategic program development, healthcare finance, managerial operations, behavioral leadership competencies, peer learning and scenario-based development. When considering health systems’ approaches to the development of curricula for emerging APP leaders, many have no formalized curricula, while others focus only on managerial skill set building. Our institution has found that there are often unique challenges for APP clinicians who are promoted into leadership positions. Through this intentional and replicable program, our institution has been able to formalize what was previously self-taught, clarify leadership expectations and cultivate a sustainable infrastructure that supports APPs at every level. This session will detail our process, share challenges and developmental milestones, and offer a model for other health systems seeking to invest in developing APP leaders.