Taking the Next Step: Navigating Career Transitions in Academic Medicine

Registration will open January 27, 2027.

Transitions in academic medicine are inevitable, whether they are planned or unexpected, upward, lateral, or even a step back. Each change carries potential for growth, renewal, and realignment of professional and personal priorities, but it also comes with risks, uncertainties, and barriers. Clinician educators, particularly in mid-career, often face pivotal moments when they must decide whether to stay in a role, move into a new one, or reshape their current responsibilities. This webinar will equip participants with the tools and frameworks to navigate these decisions intentionally.

Using the Faculty Career Self-Management Model and Schlossberg’s Four S’s (situation, self, support, strategies), presenters will explore how to evaluate readiness for change, identify values and goals, and anticipate the impacts of a transition on both personal and institutional levels. Through a combination of didactics, real-world case discussions, and reflective prompts, participants will examine multiple types of transitions, including upward, lateral, and downward. Presenters will address internal barriers such as identity shifts and self-doubt, as well as external factors like institutional politics and leadership turnover. The webinar will also introduce the concept of using a mind map to assess readiness, barriers, and supports for change.

By the end of the webinar, participants will have a clearer understanding of their own career trajectory, strategies for overcoming obstacles, and the value of fostering diversity of experience and thought through leadership transitions.