An evaluation of the impact for healthcare professionals after a leadership innovation fellowship program

Leadership among healthcare professionals is required to address important healthcare challenges. The TAHSNp Health Professions Innovation Fellowship program ("Program") supports health professionals' leadership development by offering them an opportunity to lead a quality improvement project and participate in a curriculum focused on leading change.

As part of an outcome evaluation of the program, our objective was to determine the program's impact on leadership activities and roles undertaken by alumni.

A questionnaire was administered to participants who completed the program in 2019 and 2020 at 6 and 18 months post-program to assess their leadership activities, leadership roles and the program's impact. Prospectively, we conducted internal and LinkedIn searches to identify current roles and obtained personal statements from program alumni of medical imaging health professions as complementary data sources for our program evaluation.

At 6 and 18 months post-program, 47% - 59% of alumni respondents reported participation in hospital/organization committees, mentoring fellows or students, and presenting scholarly work inside or outside their organizations (6 months: N = 25, response rate = 39.1%; 18 months: N = 17, response rate = 26.6%). Additionally, at 18 months post program, 35% - 41% of alumni reported leading a new quality improvement initiative, pursuing formal education, and having a new leadership role. Most alumni reported their leadership activities were influenced by the program, with the largest impact occurring after 18 months post-program for leading a new quality improvement initiative (100%), career plans for the next five years (94%), mentoring fellowship staff (91%), presenting at their healthcare organization (91%) and a new leadership role (90%). Alumni reported the program helped build their confidence, create networking opportunities, leadership skill-building and interest in pursuing other roles beyond their clinical role. More specifically, alumni reported that leadership skills gained from the program were used in subsequent roles and responsibilities.

The program evaluation demonstrates engaged alumni who undertake informal and formal leadership activities and roles. Our results are illustrative of the value-add as a result of healthcare organizations' investment in developing leadership among healthcare professionals. As continued engagement and career development are known to be important for staff retention and succession planning strategies, our findings are highly relevant given the current staffing challenges in healthcare.