Innovations Preparing Culture Change Agents for Academic Medicine in a Multi-Institutional Consortium: The C - Change Learning Action Network LINDA H. POLOLI, MBBS, MRCP; EDWARD KRUPAT,PHD; EUGENE R. SCHNELL,PHD; DAVID E. KERN, MD, MPH Introduction: Research suggests an ongoing need for change in the culture of academic medicine. This article describes the structure, activities and evaluation of a culture change project: the C - Change Learning Action Network (LAN) and its impact on participants. The LAN was developed to create the experience of a culture that would prepare participants to facilitate a culture in academic medicine that would be more collaborative, inclusive, relational, and that supports the humanity and vitality of faculty. Methods: Purposefully diverse faculty, leaders, and deans from 5 US medical schools convened in 2 1 / 2 -day meetings biannually over 4 years. LAN meetings employed experiential, cognitive, and affective learning modes; innovative dialogue strategies; and reflective practice aimed at facilitating deep dialogue, relationship formation, collaboration, authenticity, and transformative learning to help members experience the desired culture. Robust aggregated qualitative and quantitative data collected from the 5 schools were used to inform and stimulate culture-change plans. Results: Quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods were used. Participants indicated that a safe, supportive, inclusive, collaborative culture was established in LAN and highly valued. LAN members reported a deepened understanding of organizational change, new and valued interpersonal connections, increased motivation and resilience, new skills and approaches, increased self-awareness and personal growth, emotional connection to the issues of diversity and inclusion, and application of new learnings in their work. Discussion: A carefully designed multi-institutional learning community can transform the way participants experi- ence and view institutional culture. It can motivate and prepare them to be change agents in their own institutions. Key Words: culture change, academic medicine, medical schools, mumanistic, diversity, communities of practice, culture/diversity/cultural competence, evaluation-educational intervention, faculty development, grounded theory, reflective practice, leadership, professionalism/ethics Disclosures: The authors gratefully acknowledge the critical funding sup- port of the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation, and Brandeis University Women’s Studies Research Center. Funding supported the design and conduct of the study, and collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data. Supplemental funds to support data analysis were provided by the US Health and Human Services Office of Public Health and Science, Office on Women’s Health, and Office of Minority Health; National Institutes of Health, Office of Research on Women’s Health; the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Health Resources and Services Administration. Dr. Pololi: Senior scientist, Brandeis University; Director, National Initiative on Gender, Culture and Leadership in Medicine: C - Change; Dr. Krupat: Director, Center for Evaluation, Harvard Medical School, Associate Pro- fessor of Psychology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Dr. Schnell: President, Schnell Management Consulting; Dr. Kern: Emeritus Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Correspondence: Linda H. Pololi, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Mailstop 079, Waltham, MA 02454-9110; e-mail: lpololi@brandeis.edu. Introduction Even with the altruistic motives of most medical faculty and the noble missions of academic medicine, the present cul- ture in medical schools is felt by many faculty to be lonely, unwelcoming of differences, and more competitive and crit- ical than collaborative or supportive. 1-8 Many faculty per- ceive discrepancies between stated mission and institutional behaviors. 3,4,9 This culture contributes to high rates of fac- ulty dissatisfaction, burnout, and depression. 10-13 In turn, dissatisfaction is associated with high levels of turnover and attrition. 9,14-16 Also, there is a lack of diversity at all lev- els of leadership in medical schools. 17-19 Despite calls for culture change in academic medicine to improve areas such  2013 The Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions, the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education, and the Council on Continuing Medical Education, Association for Hospital Medical Educa- tion. • Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI: 10.1002/chp.21189 JOURNAL OF CONTINUING EDUCATION IN THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS, 33(4):244–257, 2013