Identification of Leadership Behaviors that Impact General Surgery Junior Residents’ Well-being: A Needs Assessment in a Single Academic Center

Abstract

Emerging literature has started to link leadership with the well-being of team members; however, this link during residency training has not been studied. The objective of this study was to perform a needs assessment to identify leadership behaviors among senior residents and evaluate the impact that these behaviors have on junior residents' well-being. A semi-structured question script was developed and ∼60 minute virtual focus groups were held during protected educational time, until data saturation was reached. Data analysis was performed in the tradition of grounded theory. This study was performed at Oregon Health & Science University, one of the largest general surgery programs. Participants enrolled in the general surgery residency program from July 2020 to February 2021 were included. 35 general surgery residents participated in the focus groups. Two major themes resulted from the data analysis: (1) Effective leadership behaviors and their positive consequences, and (2) Ineffective leadership behaviors and their negative consequences. Effective and ineffective leadership were characterized by the presence or absence of 6 main behaviors: supportive and empowering, team building, management skills, emotional intelligence, effective communication, and teaching. Effective and ineffective leadership positively and negatively impacted residents' well-being, individual growth, and psychological safety. The results from this study identified leadership behaviors from senior residents and demonstrated that those behaviors have a significant short-term and long-term positive and negative impact on junior residents' well-being. These results fill a gap in the literature, and can serve as a guide for surgical educators to develop evidence-based leadership curricula.