November 11, 2005

MGH leaders head back to school

Peter L. Slavin, MD, president of the MGH, and David F. Torchiana, MD, chairman and chief executive officer of the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization, took a break from their daily routines Nov. 1 to participate in the Boston Plan for Excellence's Principal for a Day program. This year, 100 CEOs, health care leaders, university presidents, nonprofit directors and elected officials participated in the program to see what students have accomplished and to learn what challenges remain for school staff.

Slavin, who was assigned to Timilty Middle School, and Torchiana, who was assigned to Health Careers Academy, spent the morning shadowing the principal, observing classroom instruction and sitting in on study groups. In the afternoon, the "principals for a day" participated in roundtable discussions with Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino; Thomas W. Payzant, PhD, Boston School superintendent; and Chad Gifford, chairman emeritus of Bank of America and chairman of the board of the Boston Plan for Excellence; and shared their experiences and offered their observations.