UHELM

Program Overview

Launched in 2018, the Health Excellence, Leadership and Mentoring (U-HELM) program provides mentoring and leadership development opportunities to junior faculty members, postdoctoral scholars, and clinical fellows in health sciences with interest in advancing care, research, or education with an emphasis on improving outcomes for underserved populations.

U-HELM is a 9-month program with monthly activities on the second Thursday of every month, starting in October. It is designed to supplement, not replace, research or academic discipline mentoring relationships.

Program Impact

The U-HELM program has been recognized as an innovative model for supporting leadership development, mentoring and career advancement. Read the 2025 publication in Journal of Clinical and Translational Science to learn more.

Program Components

Training & Development:

Fellows who are accepted into the program attend monthly seminar series sessions. In addition to “traditional” academic career development and leadership topics, seminars including discussions on advancing clinical care, research, and education, with an emphasis on addressing unmet social needs and improving health outcomes for underserved populations. U-HELM is not a research mentoring program, therefore research-related topics will be explored but are not the focus.

Mentoring:

Fellows are matched with a senior level faculty mentor to support holistic professional and leadership development. Mentors in the program are encouraged to participate in evidence-based mentor training (e.g. CIMER[AM1] ) to support mentor-mentee discussions related to culture and careers in academic medicine. U-HELM is not designed to replace research or academic discipline mentors, but to complement existing mentor relationships by addressing domains that may not be the focus of traditional academic relationships. Current mentor/mentee dyads can be considered for the program.

Networking:

Fellows will have monthly opportunities to network with peers, leaders from the University of Utah, and other institutions.

U-HLEM Fellow Expectations

Attend the kickoff seminar – Thursday October 8th, 2026 from 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM (lunch provided)
Attend 7 (out of 9) seminar series sessions between October 2026 - June 2027
- Dates: 2nd Thursday of each month from 1-3 PM (lunch provided)
Meet at least three times with a U-HELM mentor over the course of the program
Complete program evaluations for program improvement purposes
Complete an individual development plan (i.e. self-assessment, short and long-term goal setting, etc.) that will be reviewed at each mentor/fellow meeting
Complete short readings prior to seminar series sessions as assigned

Eligibility & Application Process

Current University of Utah junior faculty and fellows in health sciences with interest in advancing care, research or education with an emphasis on improving outcomes for underserved populations. We welcome applications from all areas of University of Utah Health, e.g. clinical, research, and lecturer.
For the 2026 - 2027 U-HELM program, approximately 12 fellows will be selected. A new cohort of U-HELM fellows will be selected annually to participate in the program.

How To Apply

Click HERE to apply for the 2026 - 2027 U-HELM Cohort. Applications are due Monday, August 24th, 2026.

U-HELM At-A-Glance

"This workshop was a great opportunity to hear stories and learn practices that would help to improve your career in academia. I personally liked the parts that we talked about management skills and we learned how we can better prepare ourselves for a managerial position." -Nasser Sharareh, PhD

Meet the Director

The U-HELM directors are key individuals who collaborate to make the U-HELM program all that it is. Not only do they use their connections and resources to make many sessions and guest speakers possible, each have a pivotal interest in the U-HELM member in each cohort.

April Mohanty, PhD, MPH

April Mohanty is director of the Utah Health Equity Leadership & Mentoring (U-HELM) program at the University of Utah. Mohanty is an epidemiologist and health services researcher with U of U Health. Her research interests include improving the quality of cardiovascular health care. She was among the first cohort to complete the U-HELM program. She returned in 2020 as a co-director. Dr. Mohanty also serves as Vice Chair for Culture & Community for the Department of Internal Medicine. Dr. Mohanty received a Master of Public Health and PhD at the University of Washington in epidemiology and competed a postdoctoral fellowship in medical informatics at the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System.