National Initiative on Gender, Culture and Leadership in Medicine: C-Change

This mentoring Institute is designed as a learning community that emphasizes peer consultation and sharing of perspectives and expertise. During each intensive daylong session, the group of participating Fellows will engage in a structured process of career development, as well as learn skills in key areas for career advancement. All sessions will prioritize attention to the culture and communication within the group.

Meetings are designed to embody characteristics of the culture needed in medical schools to support relationship formation, alignment of personal core values and professional goals, and meaningful careers. The facilitated group process will be characterized by non-hierarchical peer relationships, self-direction and reflection. The sessions will employ experiential and cognitive learning methods, reflective practices and innovative dialogue strategies.

Each C-Change Fellow will be guided through the steps of formulating a written personal Academic Development Plan that will include long and short-term objectives, and suggestions on how to accomplish the identified goals. Participants will not only learn skills relevant to their careers, but also have the opportunity to experience new learning methods and mentoring skills they can utilize in their work.

• "This program is so empowering and not just in theory but in practice as well — I have the tools to go forward."
• "Seeing the threads throughout and how all the puzzle pieces fit together has been amazing. The scope of what we were all able to accomplish in those eight days is really amazing. I will value this experience forever and am very grateful for having had the opportunity to participate."
• "I have a 10-year goal... what do I need to do, what are the steps, how do I need to keep myself accountable. ... It showed me the footprints of the next part of my career."
• "It is heartening to know that there are colleagues searching as I am searching — for meaning, a sense of purpose that is bigger than what I routinely encounter or derive from day-to-day work."
• "The C-Change Institute has been an eye-opener. I learned to look inside myself to get to know me better and appreciate myself for who I am (strengths and weaknesses). The exercise of listening and prioritizing values, and matching the values with my goals, was very useful in defining what I wanted to do for the rest of my career path."
• "It has definitely increased my vitality. I feel empowered to reflect and to look ahead."
• "After developing the Academic Development Plan, it was much easier for me to think through problems that I was facing in my research and to prioritize what was most important in my academic development."
• "Participating in the C-Change Institute injected me with vitality. I enjoyed my time, the change of me along with the recognition of new possibilities. I learned about the fulfillment, joy, looking forward to the work... in association with the exchange of ideas, taking risks and going 'all-in' on the task at hand."
• "I grow a deeper awareness and appreciation for diversity: less abstract, more tangible. I have stories and faces to draw upon."
• "Peer mentoring has been a revelation. This is a much more powerful model."
• "The guided and structured approaches to identify core values and strengths and the many reflective exercises have given me a much better understanding of misalignments in the past and a lot of ideas to pursue to achieve a much better integration."
• "I feel a part of something bigger than just what is going on at my local institution."
• "I already had a keen awareness of 'diversity,' more so from the experiences of an underrepresented minority. However, I was exposed to a different type of diversity. One of thoughts, concerns, experiences, rooted in geographic and racial background."
• "It has increased my vitality even during a challenging time in my career. Knowing that I had a supportive group with whom I could share my challenges gave me the strength to stand up for myself, stay true to my values, and to make decisions to protect myself and preserve my integrity."
• "The aspect of C-Change that most impacted me are the concept of there being an 'experience' rather than just didactics. I never learned like this before. The classical model of lecture, question, memorize has been the way I learn and teach. This full experience model of teaching and learning were quite impactful."
• "During the pandemic, it was so difficult to exist outside of survival mode. Further, I felt isolated and found limited joy in my work. With this in mind, I found C-Change incredibly helpful in pulling myself away from survival mode and into planning mode. While I did not accomplish everything I hoped for, I accomplished tenfold more than I would have ever done in this time."
• "I was having a difficult year (as most of us) from the pandemic. I was quite depressed and anxious. The C-Change was influential in my process to learn, cope, and create new strategies for myself and family during these crazy times. I also have better relations at home and at work. It was much needed and who knows... maybe a savior."

Dr. Pololi is Distinguished Research Scientist at Brandeis University and Director, the National Initiative on Gender, Culture and Leadership in Medicine: C-Change (for culture change). Dedicated to improving the culture of academic medicine through research and action, C-Change aims to promote an inclusive, affirming, relational working environment for all faculty and trainees, and to increase diversity of leadership in academic medicine.

Dr. Pololi is nationally recognized for her research on the culture of academic medicine and for her innovative contributions to the professional and personal development of faculty in academic medicine. She developed (and is a leading proponent of) an evidence-based collaborative peer group approach to mentoring and leadership development that is predictably reliable in facilitating career enhancement for medical faculty. Her recent multi-institutional research on the academic medical environment showed the importance of the "culture" to faculty vitality, challenging academic leaders to be change agents. The validated C-Change Surveys for medical faculty, residents and students have been used by many medical schools in the United States, Canada and the UK.

Prior to C-Change, she was professor of medicine and vice chancellor for education, and was funded by US DHHS as Founding Director to establish one of four vanguard National Centers of Leadership in Academic Medicine. She is a certified facilitator for the Center for Courage and Renewal and for the American Academy on Communication in Healthcare.

Dr. Pololi is the principal investigator of an NIH five-year study of the C-Change Mentoring & Leadership Institute. This rigorous mixed methods study includes a randomized controlled trial to assess effectiveness and delineate its mechanisms of action.

Dr. Pololi was the recipient of the 2011 AAMC Women in Medicine and Science Leadership Development Award.

The next C-Change Mentoring and Leadership Institute will be held in 2024.

If you would like to receive information about the next Institute, please send your name, institutional affiliation and contact information to cchange@brandeis.edu and we will notify you when available.

All sessions of this Institute will be held at a lovely and secluded small hotel in coastal Rhode Island, where we will be the sole occupants. The venue is specifically chosen so that our only distraction will be the natural beauty of the surroundings. The cost of accommodation and meals are included in the registration fee. The Institute takes full COVID precautions, including appropriate ventilation during meetings.

The closest airports are Providence and Boston Logan airports. Amtrak trains stop at Providence. Detailed travel information will be provided to participants.

For additional information, please contact cchange@brandeis.edu.