Advanced Physicians Leadership Program

RIHEL works in close partnership with the Colorado Medical Society to deliver the Advanced Physicians Leadership Program or APLP. The inaugural year-long course concluded in 2012 and was funded by the Colorado Trust. The second cohort graduated in 2015 and was supported by the Physicians Foundation and the Colorado Health Foundation.

The purpose of the APLP is to advance physician capacity to lead and collaborate in order to improve health care. Many elements of the APLP are similar to RIHEL’s flagship Advanced Leadership Training Program. The 56 contact hours are arranged in four weekend retreats to minimize the opportunity costs for the participants. Physician participants learn advanced concepts about leadership, teamwork, collaboration and collaborative leadership, difficult conversations, and systems thinking, among others. There is a strong emphasis on emotional intelligence. Physicians are assigned volunteer peer coaches from among RIHEL’s graduates, and coaching conversations are held monthly. The program is limited to Colorado’s physicians, and the doctors conduct leadership projects that focus on health issues in Colorado.

“Thanks so very much for this amazing opportunity. This has probably been the best class I have ever been a part of!”
— Physician in the APLP Class of 2015

APLP Class of 2012

“In this program I found inspiration on action and common values from the passion in 40 other physicians in the program—learning from their stories, concerns, efforts to improve and courage.”
— APLP Participant, Class of 2012

The Colorado Medical Society (CMS) and RIHEL teamed up to deliver this year-long program tailored for Colorado physicians. The first class in this program was funded by The Colorado Trust through their Building Public Will to Achieve Access to Health initiative, Project Health Colorado, with the purpose of the program to encourage physician leaders to champion expanded and sustained access to health by advocating that the people within their sphere of influence become involved in decisions about health in Colorado.

Physicians hold implicit positions and voices of authority in our society. The access to health messages of The Colorado Trust’s initiative will be weighted heavily if they are delivered by physicians. The video on this page provides a sampling of APLP participants sharing their thoughts about access to health in Colorado along with an invitation to their peers to join the dialogue.

Image: APLP class of 2012

In June 2012, the inaugural class of the Advanced Physicians Leadership Program (APLP) graduated, with all participants reporting that they would recommend this program to a colleague. Responses from the participants included:

• “This is not a theoretical leadership class.  It was real with real world application.”
• “The tools presented for effective leadership are invaluable to physicians stepping forward in leadership roles.”
• “You forge relationships, get out of your comfort zone and learn valuable skills that you can use in your unique situation.”
• “There are few opportunities for physicians to learn about leadership in such a positive and collegial environment. The exercises, reading and information presented provided a unique learning environment that was critical to conveying the complex concepts of leadership.”