Edson College partners with Thunderbird to boost innovation leadership skills for health care executives

Building on years of successful executive education for health care professionals, the Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation is adding a new global education partner for the Executive Fellowship in Innovation Health Leadership (EFIHL) — Thunderbird School of Global Management.  

“Health care is a global issue, so partnering with Thunderbird and leveraging its footprint is very exciting for us,” said Rick Hall, senior director of health innovation for Edson College. “The fellowship participants will benefit from Thunderbird content, and the recruiting of international participants will mutually benefit the health care executives from every sector.”

The fellowship recruits health care executives from around the world to take part in a one-year cohort that includes three-day immersive experiences in four cities around the United States. Throughout the year, participants work to build a tool kit empowering them to create innovative environments within their home organizations.

Industry partners for the program include two leading health care leadership membership organizations, the American Organization of Nurse Leaders and the American Association for Physician Leadership. The addition of the Thunderbird School of Global Management enhances the fellowship curriculum by adding courses developed by world-class management faculty and leveraging the global footprint of the school to attract health care leaders from many parts of the world.

“Few industries have higher stakes for getting innovation right,” said Tom Hunsaker, associate dean of innovation for Thunderbird School of Global Management. “This partnership between Edson and Thunderbird places these health care executives at the forefront of leading-edge innovation models and practices — globally.”

Adding to the content modules delivered in cohort immersions, participants will take courses in systems thinking and advanced concepts of innovation from Edson’s Master of Healthcare Innovation as well as disruptive innovation and leadership courses developed from Thunderbird’s Master of Global Management.

An interdisciplinary initiative, the fellowship attracts chief nursing officers, physicians, clinical psychologists and nonclinician business leaders from hospital systems, nonprofit organizations and higher education institutions.

This year the fellows will be traveling to Boston, Phoenix, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., for the immersive experiences. Some of the sites visited in previous fellowship years have included Google Headquarters, Cambridge Innovation Center, IDEO, Blue Cross Blue Shield Innovation Center, MIT’s Media Lab, Garfield Innovation Center and the Translational Genomics Research Institute.

Although space is limited, there are still spots available for the fall cohort, which begins in October.