Introducing the DOM Physician Peer Coaching Program
If you’ve ever thought, “I could really use a confidential sounding board right now,” you are not alone. When DOM faculty wrestle with career uncertainty, questions about work-life integration, and leadership transitions, they often feel they don’t have confidential, practical, and relatable support to navigate these challenges. Divisions often spend thousands of dollars hiring external executive coaches, while faculty have to educate the coaches on the “basics” of the UCSF system to help the coaches understand their challenges.
To address this gap, we are excited to launch the new DOM Physician Peer Coaching Program.
How Does It Work?
This program brings together a cohort of 12 trained physician coaches from across DOM who will provide coaching to DOM faculty, for DOM faculty. Our coaches have completed rigorous training through the American College of Physicians (ACP), including a year-long curriculum with observed coaching sessions, feedback, and longitudinal skill development. They are all deeply invested in this training and are eager to coach faculty within or outside their divisions.
Coaching is different than mentorship in that coaches offer non-directive and non-judgmental support to help think through dilemmas with a skilled, trusted peer colleague who wants to help you grow. Our coaches have expertise in:
- Academic promotion and career planning
- Clinical teaching and medical education
- Research and grant/manuscript writing
- Leadership development and transitions
- Clinical excellence and patient safety
- Navigating institutional systems and roles
- Work-life integration and career sustainability
- Community building and engagement
Sign up for a session, or a longitudinal series of sessions, with one of our superb DOM coaches.
Note: Coaching is not a substitute for HR processes or FPPE when there are patient safety or professionalism concerns.
What About $?
Our DOM coaching program will generally be significantly less expensive than employing external coaches, whose costs often approach $500/session. The DOM Physician Peer Coaching program costs less than $300/session and can be purchased as a 1-off session or as a package of multiple sessions. Interested faculty can self-refer or Division Chiefs can refer faculty for confidential coaching.
Mentorship, Coaching, and Leadership: How Does it All Fit Together?
The new UCSF DOM Physician Peer Coaching initiative is part of a suite of initiatives for our DOM community whose mission is to build a thriving community of trainees and faculty through structural support, robust mentorship, and professional development. We offer the UCSF DOM Mentorship Incubator for new faculty in their first year, the UCSF DOM LEAD high-intensity leadership program, coming in Fall 2026, the UCSF DOM Mini-LEAD book club, and the new UCSF DOM Staff Career Mentorship program.
We are lucky at UCSF to have a variety of resources to help guide folks on common coaching and mentorship dilemmas, including resources for Advancement and Promotion, questions around Part-Time Work, and more.
Want to learn more about Coaching at the UCSF DOM? Questions, comments, or suggestions?
Contact [email protected] as we want to improve coaching, mentorship, and leadership development across the UCSF DOM.