Twenty-one doctors will graduate this Thursday, April 15, from an innovative program at Yale University that gives physicians the skills they need to manage their practices.
The program, the Yale Management Program for Physicians, was developed by physicians in the Faculty Practice at the Yale School of Medicine in conjunction with faculty at the Yale Schools of Management and Epidemiology and Public Health.
“The traditional medical school curriculum does not give doctors the management and leadership skills they need to play an active role in the evolution of health care,” says Dr. Stephen Rimar, the director of the program. “More doctors are seeking management training, but most programs are designed for health care executives. Our program addresses the needs of the front-line managers of health care delivery — the physicians who lead and manage medical practices.”
The nine-session program is geared toward physicians who lead groups of 3-20 doctors and accompanying staff. The 21 doctors in the program’s inaugural class learned how health care is organized, delivered and financed, and they developed a business plan for their practice group, with the help of a graduate management student. The faculty for the program was drawn from both the Yale School of Management and the Health Management Program at the Yale School of Epidemiology and Public Health. Rimar is on the faculty of both the Yale School of Medicine and the School of Management, and is Medical Director of the Yale Faculty Practice.
The graduation session will be held April 15 at 4:30 p.m. in room 110 of the Hope Building, which can be accessed from the Sterling Hall of Medicine at 333 Cedar Street in New Haven. The commencement address, “Rise, Collapse and Resurrection of Oxford,” will be delivered by Doctor Norman C. Payson, the chief executive officer of Oxford Health Plans.
