Emerging Health Leaders Program

The program will include four interactive workshops focused on leadership styles, effective communication, ethics, and clinical decision-making to help students develop essential professional and leadership competencies for healthcare practice. In addition, students will participate in three interprofessional case discussions alongside peers from other CAHS programs, providing opportunities to collaborate on complex patient scenarios, strengthen teamwork and communication skills, and gain a deeper understanding of the roles and perspectives of various healthcare professionals in delivering patient-centered care.

Students will be assigned to an interdisciplinary group of five peers representing various CAHS programs and will work alongside a dedicated faculty mentor who will guide and support the group throughout the seven-month program.

• Lead a monthly check-in session with your group of 5
• Read and respond to your monthly reflection prompts
• Guide your team through the community impact project
• Attend and support your team at the April Showcase 
• Be available for optional one-on-one check-ins anytime

Each team of 5 selects a real community health project and works with a partner organization across the program. Projects are fully virtual-friendly and completed as a team.

• Health Education & Outreach: Develops public-facing materials such as video series, infographics, social media campaigns, and patient guides to improve health awareness and support community education.
• Needs Assessment & Research: Produces community health surveys, data analysis reports, and focus group findings to identify health needs and inform evidence-based decision-making.
• Resource Development: Creates practical tools like digital resource libraries, service directories, and staff training toolkits to improve access to services and strengthen organizational capacity.
• Policy & Advocacy: Delivers health policy briefs, gap analyses, and stakeholder presentations to communicate findings and support informed policy change.
• Program Design Support: Builds foundational planning tools such as logic models, evaluation plans, and community health worker onboarding materials to guide effective program development and implementation.

Students complete monthly, one-page leadership reflections (about 20–30 minutes each) submitted via Canvas by the last Friday of each month, where a mentor reviews and responds privately with no grades involved. Each month focuses on a different leadership theme, from identity and collaboration to ethics and systems thinking, prompting students to reflect on their experiences in the program and track their personal growth as leaders.