Bridging the Leadership Development Gap

Abstract

To the Editor: Calls for increased physician leadership are growing in number and strength.1–3 The recent proliferation of leadership curricula in medical schools and residency programs suggests that educators are beginning to believe that focused leadership development efforts early in medical education could produce more and better-trained physician leaders. Our own experience developing an innovative leadership education and development program in the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine is consistent with study findings at the Mayo Medical School, in which 85% of student leaders felt leadership should be taught in medical school.4 We are convinced that students enter medical school with an interest in leadership and a desire to build their skills. Yet medical curricula have been slow to develop frameworks in support of these interests. To harness this enthusiasm, medical schools must actively strive to facilitate leadership education. Toward this end, we offer five evidence-based suggestions: Leadership development programs should be student focused and flexible, encourage formal mentorship, expose students to disciplines outside of medicine, be rigorously evaluated, and engage accreditation agencies to measure and promote leadership development. Two meta-analyses, covering studies from 1951 to 2001, demonstrated that leadership development programs can be effective across many disciplines, particularly when they are tailored to the needs of the trainee and reflect the objectives of the organization.5,6 These formalized approaches, which mix lessons in theory with practical experiences, should be used to help medical students realize their leadership potential. Amol A. Verma, MD, MPhil Resident in internal medicine, University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; [email protected] Jordan D. Bohnen, MD, MBA Resident in general surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.