Leadership Education in Radiation Oncology Residency Training

Abstract

To identify the leadership training needs of radiation oncology residents in our program and to develop a leadership curriculum to address any identified training gaps. An online questionnaire was administered anonymously to current residents and recent graduates of our radiation oncology training program. Qualitative and quantitative data was collected on the following domains: advanced courses and degrees held by participants, previous leadership training, current leadership training in the residency program, current and previous leadership responsibilities, and perceived gaps in residency leadership training. A 4-point Likert scale (0 = not important, 4 = very important) was used to identify training needs and gaps in the current training program. These areas were then targeted for development of new leadership curricular content. Seventeen of the 21 invited participants completed the questionnaire (81%); 13 residents (100%) and 4 recent graduates (50%). Advanced degrees were held by 41% of participants. The majority of residents (85%) expected to hold a leadership position as staff. All of the recent graduates (100%) reported having leadership responsibilities in their practice. Most participants reported spending five hours or less on leadership training during residency (82%) and 94% of participants reported spending too little time on leadership training during residency. Several skills ranked by participants as 'very important' for new radiation oncology staff were also identified as high-priority domains for leadership curriculum development: Leadership Styles and Interpersonal Effectiveness, Effective Teamwork and Communication, Negotiation and Conflict Management. This study identifies high-priority leadership training needs to target for curriculum development in our radiation oncology residency training program. Curricular content is being developed and integrated into the training program to better prepare residents for fellowship and junior consultant positions. To our knowledge, this is the first radiation oncology-specific leadership curriculum designed to meet these needs.