Cultivating health science education innovation: the RISE Innovator Development Program

PROBLEM: Health sciences education must innovate to meet the demands of an increasingly complex health care system. Despite increasing sophistication, there is a critical gap in intentional training in innovation, change management, and leadership. To address this, the Research, Innovation, and Scholarship in Education Innovator Development Program was launched at Michigan Medicine in 2019 to cultivate innovation as a professional competency. APPROACH: Program design was informed by Kotter's Change Management framework and a framework for health science education innovation. A literature review and modified Delphi process with 24 faculty, staff, and learners, prioritized 7 core competencies, embedded in a 12-month curriculum. Innovators engage in monthly workshops, coaching, and consultations with team members, applying new concepts to interventions across 3 phases: pre-implementation, pilot, and iteration/scaling. This linking of theory, practice, and individualized feedback represents a novel approach to developing innovation capacity and leadership. OUTCOMES: From 2019 to 2025, 4 cohorts (N = 31) completed the program, with 10 currently enrolled, representing faculty, learners, and staff from 18 departments. Outcomes were evaluated using Kirkpatrick's 4-level model. At Level 1 (reaction), participants rated all components as valuable, with coaching and workshops highest. At Level 2 (learning), self-reported knowledge gains were significant across all competencies (P < .001, large effect sizes). At Level 3 (behavior), self-assessed scores increased significantly, but team ratings were mixed, with teamwork and curiosity declining. At Level 4 (results), 27 interventions were piloted and 13 scaled beyond the pilot. Institutional support, cognitive diversity, and intentional competency development contributed to success. NEXT STEPS: The Innovator Development Program demonstrates institutional feasibility, though broader feasibility requires further study given resource needs. Next steps include strengthening competencies with inconsistent growth, refining assessments, and longer-term follow-up to evaluate scholarly productivity, career advancement, and dissemination. The program offers a structured approach to building innovation capacity, though higher-level impacts remain limited.