Global Physician Leadership Immersion Program

For physician leaders around the world, clinical expertise alone is no longer enough. Today’s healthcare environment demands leaders who can communicate effectively, build high-performing teams, manage change, improve patient safety and evaluate emerging technologies responsibly.

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Cleveland Clinic’s Global Physician Leadership Immersion Program was created to help international physician leaders, including members of Cleveland Clinic Connected, strengthen those capabilities through a three-day, in-person experience at Cleveland Clinic’s Main Campus.

“Many healthcare leaders from outside the U.S. seek out Cleveland Clinic not only for our clinical expertise, but also for our culture and approach to leadership,” says Keira Williams, manager of the Global Physician Leadership Immersion Program. “Physicians today are expected to improve patient experience, advance quality and safety, steward limited resources, and lead organizational change alongside their clinical responsibilities. We designed this program to show participants how Cleveland Clinic approaches those challenges and to equip them with practical strategies they can adapt in their own organizations.”

What participants learn

Now in its second year, the program is more than a series of lectures. It is immersive executive education led by Cleveland Clinic physician leaders and subject matter experts.

The 2026 program, scheduled for Oct. 20-22, opens with a full day focused on Cleveland Clinic’s team-based leadership model. Interactive modules cover:

Team-based culture
Optimal healthcare organizational structures
Team-based communication
Leader communication toolkits

“Because optimizing team function, creating a high-performance culture and communicating are core competencies for physician leaders in the current world, a focus on these skills through experiential learning forms a core of the program,” says James K. Stoller, MD, MS, Chief of Education at Cleveland Clinic, who leads the first module.

Man at a podium lecturing to men in business suits — During the 2025 program, Dr. Stoller led a session on team-based culture in healthcare and optimal organizational structures.

Business professionals working on a task, writing on papers posted on a wall — Participants from Hospital Angeles in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, performed a team-building activity on day 1 of the 2025 program.

Days 2 and 3 address topics such as:

Clinical efficiency
Continuous quality improvement
High reliability in performance, quality and safety
Patient experience
Artificial intelligence (AI)
Business and finance of healthcare
Change management
Leader attributes

Based on participant feedback from the 2025 program, the session on high reliability and cultivating a culture of safety was among the most valuable.

“High reliability is the foundation of safe performance in complex, high-risk industries, including healthcare,” says Margee Pagnucco, MSN, RN, Senior Director of Safety, Quality and Patient Experience at Cleveland Clinic, who co-leads the session. “By creating standardized, resilient systems and a strong culture of safety, organizations can reduce errors, prevent harm and improve patient outcomes. This program provides leaders with practical tools and real-world strategies to strengthen safety culture, accelerate continuous improvement, and sustain focus on safety, quality and patient experience. Last year’s participants consistently cited the actionable insights and peer learning as key drivers for advancing meaningful organizational change.”

This year, a session on AI will examine how Cleveland Clinic evaluated and implemented ambient AI technology to support clinical documentation in the electronic health record.

“There’s no shortage of AI tools today, and many healthcare organizations aren’t sure where to start,” Williams says. “We will walk participants through how Cleveland Clinic assessed, tested and implemented AI with one key question in mind: Does it improve patient care and make life better for caregivers?”

This year’s program also will include new sessions on action planning and organizational problem-solving.

“We are asking participants to submit a leadership or operational challenge in advance, and we will use those real-world issues during the day 3 planning activity,” Williams says. “By the end of the program, participants will leave not only with new ideas, but with a clear plan for how to apply them in their own hospitals and health systems.”

What makes the experience different

Many physician leadership programs emphasize theory or a single area of focus, such as finance or communication. Building on a decade of prior success with Cleveland Clinic’s Samson Global Leadership Academy, the Global Physician Leadership Immersion Program takes a broader approach, examining how leadership, culture and operations intersect across a health system.

Among the program’s distinguishing features are:

A curriculum that connects leadership development with quality, safety, patient experience, operational performance and change management
Exposure to Cleveland Clinic’s leadership and operating practices, with attention to how participants might adapt those approaches in their own organizations
A dyad teaching model in which many sessions are co-led by a physician and an administrator
Interactive sessions that allow participants to exchange ideas and compare approaches to common leadership challenges
Opportunities for networking with Cleveland Clinic physicians
A schedule structured for international visitors, with time for optional specialty-specific meetings before or after the formal program

“About one-third of Cleveland Clinic physicians were born or trained outside the U.S.,” Williams says. “That often creates meaningful networking opportunities for participants. When possible, we connect them with Cleveland Clinic physicians who share similar regional backgrounds or clinical interests.”

The Tuesday-through-Thursday schedule is intended to reduce time away from participants’ home institutions while allowing flexibility for additional meetings on Monday or Friday. Last year, for example, two urologists from Uzbekistan met with a Cleveland Clinic urologic surgeon to discuss minimally invasive techniques and observe surgical robotics used in the U.S.

Who should attend

While the program is designed for physician leaders, healthcare executives and administrators are also welcome. Sessions can be especially valuable for leaders working to expand hospitals, integrate acquired facilities or strengthen service lines. English proficiency is recommended.

For more information or to register, email Keira Williams at williak102@ccf.org.