Distinction Track

The Leadership and Innovation in Healthcare Distinction track healthcare reform to bring high value care to our society. Physicians, with their in-depth knowledge of medicine, have much to contribute to the national process and the creation of delivery systems that ensure value-based care. They may also be unprepared in this endeavor. Thus, there is a need for a new generation of physicians with expertise in public health, population based medicine, healthcare finance, medical technology, quality improvement, interprofessional care, engineering and leadership skills to ensure that together we build a healthcare system that is patient-centered, value-based, and financially sound.

Students graduating with distinction in Leadership and Healthcare Innovation will also have an understanding of new models of care, including reimbursement realignment, especially for those patients who utilize the most services at the highest cost.

The students will be able to discuss:

  • the role of technology,
  • the intersection between healthcare, information systems and business, (eg. remote patient bio-monitoring),
  • and healthcare system measurement and process improvement.

Lastly, students will be positioned to facilitate the dissemination of innovations and best practices to help inform policy, and advance and improve practice.

Overall, this distinction track provides the student a structured, faculty-mentored experience to explore many facets of healthcare education, administration, finance, delivery and policy. It draws upon the expertise of leaders from the Colleges of the University of Arizona Health Sciences, UA main campus, and the community, including the Healthcare Transformation Institute. This program ensures that these selected future providers achieve competencies in health leadership and advocacy—well beyond patient care—and will assume critical roles as a generation of physician leaders in healthcare innovation.

Our experience with the Emerging Leaders in Healthcare elective for MS 1-4 students, enrolling students since 2011, makes us confident that we will succeed in our primary mission: to develop leaders capable of contributing to the design and delivery of value-based healthcare: better health, better healthcare, at lower cost.

Living Will

The Living Will Project is designed to teach medical students at the University of Arizona College of Medicine about conducting difficult conversations with patients and their families around Advance Care Planning (ACP). Having the knowledge of what ACP involves and developing the skills and language to communicate with patients about it is an important ability for doctors to have, and this exercise begins that process.

ACP includes:

  • Advance Directive
  • Advance Instruction for Mental Health
  • Decision Making Ability (Capacity)
  • Do Not Resuscitate Order (DNR)
  • Guardian
  • Healthcare Power of Attorney
  • Living Will

Selected ACP Resources:

CARES Toolkit

This project has been funded by a generous grant from The David C and Lura M. Lovell Foundation.