The Chief Resident Leadership Workshop is a skills-based program designed for family medicine residents stepping into a chief role. This highly interactive workshop prepares you for the realities of chiefdom - building confidence as a leader, sharpening your communication skills, and helping you navigate complex team dynamics.
You’ll gain practical strategies for managing challenging situations, leading effectively within your program, and supporting the educational mission of your residency, all while connecting with peers stepping into the same role. Expect real-world insights, honest conversations, and tools you can use from day one.
If you’re becoming a chief resident, this is where you want to be.
Sign-ups will open soon alongside POP! registration. Visit the POP! page for updates and details.
The workshop is divided into 3 parts. The proposed dates and times are subject to change:
Family physicians work at the intersection of patient care, their communities, and the broader health system. Leadership skills help them navigate this complexity - advocating for patients, leading teams, and improving care delivery. In this opening session to the Chief Resident Leadership Workshop series, CAFP Foundation President, Dr. Parastou Farhadian will share lessons she has learned throughout her career - from her own chief resident experience to being a leader at Mission Community Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program. She will briefly cover a few hot topics in leadership, including maintaining wellness resilience, overcoming impostor syndrome, and balancing physician advocacy. A Q&A session will follow.
Transitioning to chiefdom can be daunting due to the number of new responsibilities - the pressure of representing peer interests, the difficulty of navigating conflicts up the hierarchy, and the increased clinical workload as a senior resident. This session will provide practical tips for skillfully managing the many hats worn by chief residents.
As a chief resident, your job will be primarily conflict resolution. This session will include an introduction to techniques that will help you understand team dynamics and navigate your chief year successfully. As a chief resident, much of your role involves navigating conflict and supporting team dynamics. This session will introduce practical techniques to help you better understand interpersonal dynamics and lead your team effectively throughout your chief year.
Join outgoing/former chiefs as they share lessons learned and practical advice on making the most of this workshop and your chief year. Bring your questions - this session will include an open Q&A for real-time discussion.
Serena Liu, MD is a primary care physician in Palo Alto and served as chief resident at John Muir Health’s Family Medicine Residency Program. She is passionate about empowering medical learners in primary care who may not always feel like a leader. This led her to create John Muir Health’s Resident Leadership Development Track, which received UCSF’s Excellence in Education Collaboration award, and present on leadership techniques at AAFP’s National Conference. She is a content creator and speaker at CAFP’s Leadership Workshop for Chief Residents and USC School of Medicine’s Primary Care Leadership Conference. As a medical student, she received AAFP’s FM Interest Group Program of Excellence award and AAFP’s Emerging Leader Institute scholar award. Most recently, she was named the winner of the Palo Alto Foundation Medical Group’s Primary Care Innovation Challenge.
Kishore Nath, MD is the Associate Program Director at the John Muir Health Family Medicine Residency in Walnut Creek, California. As a preceptor, he has mentored residents to develop curriculum and dedicated clinics within the residency for family planning, addiction medicine, transgender health, eating disorders, and refugee medicine. He is the Medical Director of the John Muir Health’s Mobile Clinic, a clinic dedicated to the underserved and uninsured, specifically leading efforts for community outreach to care for immigrants and refugees. He has personally organized large-scale covid-19 vaccination clinics through the Mobile Clinic, vaccinating over 2000 patients, with over 60% having a non-English language preference. His other leadership responsibilities include Executive Councilmember of the Dept of Belonging and Equity for the JMH health system, board member on the Board of Directors of the John Muir Medical Group, and recently serving as Health Chair for the NAACP Oakland Branch. He identifies as a Southern Californian transplant, moving to the Bay Area in 2009 after completing medical school training at the Keck USC School of Medicine and residency training at Long Beach Memorial, where he served as chief resident.
Parastou Farhadian MD, CPE, FAAFP is the President of the CAFP Foundation and the founding Program Director of the Family Medicine Residency Program at Mission Community Hospital in Los Angeles. In addition, she is the Chief Medical Officer at Santo Niño Health Center and the Director of Graduate Medical Education at Mission Community Hospital. Dr. Farhadian's dedication to medical education extends to her position as Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education at the Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine. Before joining Mission Community Hospital in 2022, Dr. Farhadian served for seven years as the Program Director of the RUHS/UCR Family Medicine Residency Program in Moreno Valley, CA, the same program where she completed her residency training in 2010. Dr. Farhadian is a proud member of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) since 2007 and has earned distinction as a Certified Physician Executive (CPE) through the American Association for Physician Leadership. She is also a graduate of the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) fellowship. Her expertise and influence in Family Medicine are further recognized through her service as a board member-at-large for the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors (AFMRD). In addition to her professional pursuits, Dr. Farhadian enjoys spending time with her husband and two sons.
*Subject to change.
8:30 - 9:00 am
Transitioning into Your New Role as Chief Resident: The Annual Cycle
Serena Liu, MD
9:00 - 9:30 am
Leadership Toolkit - Managing Up and Across, What Every Chief Resident Should Know
Sarah McNeil, MD
9:30 - 9:40 am
Break
9:40 - 10:40 am
Leadership Toolkit- Navigating Tough Team Dynamics
Kishore Nath, MD
10:40 - 10:50 am
Break
10:50 - 11:20 am
Sharing Our Experiences: A Panel Discussion with Current Chiefs
Peter Ro, MD
Tricia Bautista, MD
11:30 am
Close
Saturday, August 26, 2023 - Family Medicine POP (formerly FM Summit/Clinical Forum)
TIME
SESSION
SPEAKER
10:00 am
Welcome, Purpose Setting & Overview
Serena Liu, MD
10:10 - 10:30 am
Meet & Greet
Moderator: Serena Liu, MD
10:30 - 10:50 am
Inspiring a Shared Vision and the Why of Leadership, Advocacy and Community Service
Jay W. Lee, MD, MPH
10:50 - 11:00 am
Break
11:00 - 11:55 am
Leadership Toolkit: Giving Effective Feedback
Jo Marie Reilly, MD
11:55 - 12:05 pm
Break
12:05 - 1:00 pm
Lunch & Reflection
