Healthcare Administration, Leadership and Management (HALM) Fellowship for Physicians

About Our Fellowship

The Healthcare Administration, Leadership and Management (HALM) Fellowship for Physicians is a two-year, ACGME-accredited program at Houston Methodist that integrates block, longitudinal and project-based learning experiences. Houston Methodist is among the first dozen programs nationally to offer this type of fellowship, building on the success of a long-standing, high-performing non-clinical, administrative fellowship infrastructure and a proven track record of success in developing healthcare leaders.

 

The aim of the Houston Methodist HALM Fellowship is to prepare early-career physicians (within their first three years of training completion) to successfully lead in today’s complex healthcare environment, providing them with a personalized program of leadership skills development along with broad knowledge and experience across multiple domains of health system operations. This experience enables early-career physicians to become impactful leaders in areas of their interest and choice — whether in patient care delivery, operations, quality, education, research or executive administration.

 

Physician Fellows work closely with high-level executives and key decision-makers across the organization, gaining insights to strategic planning, system-wide operations and board-facing initiatives. This access provides insight into real-time leadership challenges and positions fellows as active contributors to system-level priorities.

 

Fellows gain exposure to key leadership and operational domains across Houston Methodist, including operations, finance, human resources, legal, strategy, informatics and more. A strong emphasis is placed on quality, safety, patient experience and continuous improvement. Fellows have opportunities to spend time at Houston Methodist locations across Houston, allowing for a comprehensive understanding of both system-level and site-specific operations.

Eligibility & Application

This two‐year fellowship is accredited by the ACGME and administered by the Office of Graduate Medical Education. All required clinical education for entry into ACGME-accredited fellowship programs must be completed in an ACGME-accredited residency program, an AOA-approved residency program, or a program with ACGME International (ACGME-I).

 

Given the nature of the HALM Fellowship, privileges in the specialty area at Houston Methodist is a requirement. 

How to Apply

Houston Methodist is now accepting applications for the inaugural cohort of the HALM Fellowship. The fellowship runs from July 1, 2027, through June 30, 2029.

The application period is June 1, 2026, through August 31, 2026. Applicants must submit the following materials:

  • Curriculum vitae (CV)
  • Official medical school academic transcript
  • Three letters of recommendation:
    • One from residency or fellowship Program Director
    • One from a leader who can speak to your leadership potential
    • One from a supervisor or peer that addresses your clinical skills
  • A personal statement of interest (500 words or fewer) describing your vision for advancing healthcare leadership, along with your career goals and what you hope to gain from the fellowship experience

All application materials must be submitted as a single combined PDF to halmfellowship@houstonmethodist.org by 11:59 PM CST on August 31, 2026.

Timeline

  • Applications are now being accepted through August 31, 2026. Applicants will be notified if they have been selected for an interview. 
  • Interviews will take place by the end of September 2026. 
  • Interviewees will be notified of selection decisions by November 2026.

 

The application window for the 2028 academic year will open in late 2027. Please direct any questions to halmfellowship@houstonmethodist.org. 

Compensation & Benefits

Much of the work during the two-year fellowship is self‐directed and will require time for completion of assignments, fellowship projects and capstone work. The following mixed model formula is used to calculate the fellow’s salary during the two-year fellowship: 100% is commensurate with the fellow’s assumed PGY level and paid by GME.

 

 

Curriculum

This is a two‐year fellowship combining block, longitudinal and project-based learning. 80% of the fellow’s time will be spent dedicated to the fellowship and 20% will be clinical time.

  • Sample Block Diagram

    Year 1

    July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
    Houston Methodist Foundations of Leadership:
    President and Chief Executive Officer, Houston Methodist     		 Houston Methodist Foundations of Leadership:
    President and Chief Executive Officer of Houston Methodist      		 Informatics:
    Chief Medical Information Officer and Chief Health AI Officer, Houston Methodist     		 Legal, Regulatory, and Risk Management:
    Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, and Chief Strategic and Business Development Officer, Houston Methodist     		 Human Resources: 
    Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Houston Methodist     		 Elective
    Jan Feb March April May June
    Houston Methodist Physician Organization Foundations of Leadership: 
    Executive Vice President, Chief Physician Executive, Houston Methodist; President and Chief Executive Officer, Houston Methodist Physician Organization 
     
     
    		 Houston Methodist Physician Organization Foundations of Leadership: 
    Executive Vice President, Chief Physician Executive, Houston Methodist; President and Chief Executive Officer, Houston Methodist Physician Organization 
     
    		 Houston Methodist Physician Organization Foundations of Leadership:
    Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Houston Methodist Physician Organization     		 Academic Medical Center Operations:
    Executive Vice President, Houston Methodist Hospital; Chief Innovation Officer, Houston Methodist     		 Academic Medical Center Quality and Safety:
    Vice President of Operations and Chief Quality Officer, Houston Methodist Hospital     		 Academic Medical Center Quality and Safety:
    Vice President of Operations and Chief Quality Officer, Houston Methodist Hospital 

    Year 2

    July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
    Elective Network Hospitals Foundations of Leadership:
    Executive Vice President, Houston Methodist Network Hospitals     		 Network Hospitals Quality and Safety:
    Chief Medical Officer     		 Network Hospitals Quality and Safety:
    Chief Medical Officer     		 Network Hospitals Operations:
    Executive Team     		 Elective
    Jan Feb March April May June
    Houston Methodist Coordinated Care Organization Operations:
    Vice President of Population Health and Primary Care, Houston Methodist; President and Chief Executive Officer, Houston Methodist Coordinated Care     		 System Access Finance:
    Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Houston Methodist     		 Academic Institute:
    President and Chief Executive Officer, Houston Methodist Academic Institute; Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer, Houston Methodist Hospital     		 Elective Elective

    Electives may include Global Healthcare Services, Office of Culture and Engagement, Houston Methodist Hospital Foundation, Innovation, Patient Experience, Managed Care, and more. Fellows receive 21 days of vacation per academic year, usually taken during elective rotations.

  • Committee Membership and Leadership Academies

    As part of the HALM Fellowship, trainees are exposed to longitudinal participation in committees and experiences including:

    • Weekly leadership meetings
    • Continuous improvement collaborative

     

    The fellows are also exposed to key committees and team meetings on a rotational basis, such as:

    • Hospital Governance
    • Medical Executive Committee (MEC) and subcommittees
    • Quality, Safety & Patient Experience committees

     

    Additionally, HALM fellows are invited to participate into the Physician Leadership Development Program, Chair and Administrator Academy Programs and other physician alumni networks, to further strengthening their formal leadership development and expanding their executive network.

     

  • Projects and Capstone

    Over the course of the two-year fellowship, fellows are expected to develop and complete a capstone project. The capstone project is intended to have a system scope.

     

    As part of this process, fellows will have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with several leaders from different departments across the enterprise. In collaboration with these leaders, fellows will identify projects that are of particular interest to them, secure executive project sponsors and mentors, and develop a timeline for their project(s). 

     

    As fellows will be drawn from a variety of medical disciplines and will come to the fellowship with a variety of backgrounds, their unique specialization and interests will be key drivers of project selection. Input will also be sought from the chairs and other leaders in their respective clinical departments. We hope to ensure that fellows select capstone projects that reflect both their own interests as well as the critical needs of the organization, while also allowing for progressive responsibility over tasks and processes relative to their projects throughout the fellowship.

     

    Fellows will be responsible for prioritizing time to work on their capstone project(s) throughout their fellowship. They will also have flexibility during elective time to complete, assess and prepare their scholarly activity for publication and/or presentation. The involvement of a senior executive leader as well as other senior physician and non-physician leaders will help ensure that the fellow has appropriate support, feedback and organizational commitment to enable the project to be successfully completed. 

     

    In addition to the fellow-led capstone project, the program team will work with rotation leaders to identify additional projects or initiatives that would be appropriate for fellows to lead.

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