Contextual importance of leadership and management training in undergraduate medical education: Literature review

Abstract

Leadership is recently known to be necessary at all levels within an organization, causing it to be extremely important for new graduates to understand what leadership is and to be familiar with different key leadership and management competencies. Leadership is also an integral part of medical practice. However, at present several medical colleges do not have a leadership and management curriculum, and thus, our medical college is not preparing its undergraduates in such skills as effective communication, conflict resolution, and time management. The search terms used were undergraduate medical leadership and management programs, undergraduate medical student leadership development programs, student leadership, and management training, clinical leadership, challenges of leadership and management programs in medical colleges, and skills needed for leadership and management course development. The review has shed light on skills needed for proposing a program on leadership and management for students at medical universities. The review also provided a rich combination of definitions of leadership, challenges to the type of leadership as well as how other medical organizations approach leadership and management. The theories suggest approaching competencies for leadership rather than building on pure theoretical knowledge of leadership. Furthermore, the research suggests differentiating the leadership training for undergraduate students based on how to add value to their career/study progressions, standardization, and organizational contribution. The literature further revealed the different challenges and barriers to developing leadership and management programs in medical colleges.