Encouraging formative assessments of leadership for foundation doctors

Leadership Curriculum in Medical Education: Exploring Student and Faculty Perceptions in a US Medical School in Qatar

Purpose

Leadership has long been recognized as a core competency required to excel in medical practice. This qualitative study investigates the extent to which leadership competencies are incorporated in the curriculum of a US medical college in Qatar and examines the perceptions of medical students and faculty about leadership in the medical curriculum.

Methods

The study uses a student survey, faculty interviews, and a student focus group to gather data.

Results

The study found that 79% of the survey respondents perceive leadership as a core competency while 55% feel that leadership skills are not adequately taught to students. The focus group and interviews revealed that students believe more importance should be given to leadership training whereas faculty assert that, while leadership can be beneficial, leadership training is implicit, and more research is required for further implementation.

Conclusion

This study shows the need for an increased emphasis on developing leadership curricula in undergraduate medical education and highlights ways to address certain obstacles to implementation. Further research on exploring medical alumni’s perceptions and optimal teaching methods to implement leadership training is needed.

Leadership and surgical training part 1: preparing to lead the way?

Every day surgeons lead teams on the wards, in clinics and operating theatres, but most trainees and some surgeons do not consider themselves as leaders. Leadership skills are increasingly important for surgeons, who need knowledge of organizational structure and policy, management strategy and team dynamics to deliver and improve health care in resource-constrained environments. The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons recognizes leadership as one of 10 core surgical competencies but leadership curricula within surgical training programmes are not well defined. There is limited opportunity for formal leadership training and development prior to becoming a consultant.

Medical Students' perceptions and attitudes toward Medical Leadership and Management

Objectives:

To find out medical students’ perceptions and attitudes toward medical leadership and management (MLM).

Methods:

A total of 336 medical students from the 2^nd to 6^th academic years from King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), were included in this cross-sectional study. This study was conducted in January-February 2020. The students were asked about their perceptions, attitudes, and interests in the leadership of medical care and clinicians. A four-part questionnaire was used for collecting data. SPSS-21 was used for analysis.

Results:

The participants included 172 (51.2%) males and 164 (48.8%) females. In total, 105 (31.3%) participants agreed that they had been very well educated about their perception, behavior, and interest in the field of medical leadership and clinic management, and 175 (52.1%) students agreed that clinicians should influence management decisions in a healthcare setting. Overall, 167 (49.7%) students agreed that management/leadership skills are important for clinicians. In total, 145 students (43.2%) desired to have more leadership training in medical school, and 129 (38.4%) students agreed to seek additional leadership/management training in their postgraduate research studies. When asked about their self-perception of good leadership skills, the students indicated that good leadership skills included integrity (47.9%), conflict resolution (46.7%), organization (44.4%), confidence (41.9%), communication (40.5%), self-reflection (40.2%), time management (33.6%), the ability to motivate others (36.9%), and the ability to keep calm under stress (33.3%).

Conclusion:

Many students were well aware of the MLM concepts. However, students agreed that management/leadership skills are important for clinicians, and there should be more leadership training in medical schools.

Preparedness of medical students and junior doctors for their role as clinical leaders: A systematic review

Introduction: Clinical leadership skills are essential across all levels of a healthcare organization and must be employed by those most appropriate to the situation, regardless of position or profession. However, most medical students and junior doctors remain unaware of how leadership can be assimilated into their everyday clinical practice.Aim: To investigate the perceived preparedness of medical students and junior doctors for their role as clinical leaders.Methods: A systematic search was performed of the MEDLINE, ERIC and PubMed databases. Papers pertaining to medical students and junior doctors that included primary data on preparedness for clinical leadership or behaviors associated with being a clinical leader were included.Results: Sixteen papers were included and analyzed after screening 254. No studies specifically assessed the transition to clinical leader. Evidence suggests that new graduates perceive leadership as individualistic and hierarchical, and that they are only partially prepared to fill this role. Preparedness for clinical leadership was associated with increasing responsibility, experience and time-served.Conclusions: New graduates are unlikely to question senior colleagues as they lack leadership-specific communication skills. Further research is required into how to actively promote leadership in medical students and ease the transition to leadership roles within clinical teams.

Mindfulness training for healthcare professionals and trainees: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

OBJECTIVE

Healthcare professionals (HCPs) experience a wide range of physical and psychological symptoms that can affect quality of patient care. Previous meta-analyses exploring mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) for HCPs have been limited by their narrow scope regarding intervention type, target population, and/or measures, and reliance on uncontrolled studies; therefore, a more comprehensive and methodologically rigorous examination is warranted. This meta-analysis quantified the effectiveness of MBIs on distress, well-being, physical health, and performance in HCPs and HCPs-in-training.

METHOD

RCTs examining the effect of meditation and MBIs on HCPs and HCPs-in-training were identified and reviewed. Two independent reviewers extracted data and assessed risk of bias.

RESULTS

Thirty-eight studies were included in the analyses (n = 2505; 75.88% female). Intervention had a significant moderate effect on anxiety (Hedge's g = 0.47), depression (Hedge's g = 0.41), psychological distress (Hedge's g = 0.46), and stress (Hedge's g = 0.52). Small to moderate effects were also found for burnout (Hedge's g = 0.26) and well-being at post-intervention (Hedge's g = 0.32). Effects were not significant for physical health and performance. Larger intervention effects on overall outcomes were found with HCPs (Hedge's g = 0.52), with Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction intervention (Hedge's g = 0.47), and inactive controls (Hedge's g = 0.36).

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest mindfulness-based interventions are effective in reducing distress and improving well-being in HCPs and HCP-ITs. Subgroup analyses suggest the importance of exploring potential participants' needs prior to selecting the type of mindfulness intervention. Future studies should assess changes in mindfulness and include active controls.