CDM Faculty Member Helps Doctors Become Leaders
When Alia Koch, DDS, MD, FACS, first entered the NewYork-Presbyterian (NYP) Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) Academy, she couldn’t have known how transformative the experience would be. Her participation in the program not only reshaped her own approach to leadership, but also changed the way she spends her days; she now plays a central role in guiding its next generation of physician leaders.
The NYP LEAD Academy was launched in 2017 through a collaboration with Columbia Business School and the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health. The 13-month program is designed to identify and support early to mid career physicians with high leadership potential. The curriculum blends elements of an MBA and MHA, with coursework in strategic management, health policy, health economics, and data analytics. Participants also complete a capstone project directly tied to NYP priorities, all while building a professional network and being mentored by senior leaders at the medical center.
Dr. Koch says that the program altered the trajectory of her career. “It completely changed everything about the way I interact with people, about the way I manage groups, and about where I see leaders being and what their role is,” she says. “The program really made me understand where I was lacking—how I could change the way I communicate so people would follow me, rather than resist me.”
That shift had an immediate impact on her role as residency program director in the department of oral and maxillofacial surgery. “It helped me change the culture of the residency program,” Dr. Koch says. “My residents aren’t afraid of me. They come and sit with me, ask about my advice, share stories about their kids. I joke that they’re like my twelve additional children. That kind of trust is something I was able to foster because of what I learned in LEAD.”
In 2020, Dr. Koch was asked to take on a new challenge: helping to lead the program itself. She was brought in to shadow the previous administrator, but the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted those plans. “I was supposed to take over in 2021, but by mid-2020, I got the call: ‘You’re taking over now,’” she says. “So I stepped in, and we made it work—even though everything was fully on Zoom.”
Now the director of NYP LEAD, Dr. Koch not only administers the program but has spearheaded a major overhaul of its curriculum. Gathering feedback from past participants, hospital chairs, and faculty, she led a redesign to ensure the program remained relevant and forward-looking. “We realized that some sessions were outdated and not as applicable anymore,” she says. “So we revamped the curriculum to make it more NYP-centric, bringing in more leaders from within the system to reflect the challenges our physicians actually face.”
The response has been overwhelming. “Last year, for just five available spots, we had over 20 applicants,” she says. “That level of interest shows how much faculty see the value of LEAD. It’s not widely advertised, and yet the demand is greater than ever.”
At the heart of the program, Dr. Koch says, is the idea that leadership is not just about authority, but about fostering growth and change. “The chairs nominate people they believe have potential,” she says. “Often, these are faculty who have already made an impact—improving quality metrics, enhancing patient experience—but who need more tools to reach the next level. That’s where LEAD comes in. It gives them the skills and the confidence to make meaningful change, not just in their departments, but across the healthcare system.”
For Dr. Koch, the journey from student to administrator of NYP LEAD feels both full-circle and deeply personal. She knows what it’s like to sit in the classroom, absorbing the lessons of leadership for the first time. And now, she gets to shape that experience for others.
“At its core, LEAD is about preparing physicians to be effective, compassionate leaders,” she says. “It’s about helping them see gaps, identify solutions, and inspire others to follow. That’s what makes it so powerful.”