Leadership skills in surgeons: a review of the literature

Abstract

Clinicians, professors of medicine in general, students, and professionals from the health sciences tend to focus their efforts on technical training related to their discipline in practice as well as activities that produce some benefit direct or personal satisfaction. It is unusual to devote time and effort to training in areas such as teaching or expand their skills in sociological and organizational aspects. Would you like to take a course on strategic planning if not a director or officer of the hospital? Manage time in your schedule for a workshop on communication and conflict management? Have room in your schedule for educational activities on leadership, organizational change, and diffusion of innovations, science or science complexity of implementation? Generally, doctors and teachers do not spend much time on these activities (at least voluntarily) because we feel that what we have learned from these topics on personal experience is enough. Effective teamwork, not only in the operating room but also throughout the perioperative route is considered an important and critical component of the safety and effectiveness of surgical care and leads to good results and quick recovery of surgical patients. Therefore, considerable efforts have been made to understand how teams work within the route of surgical care and to improve teamwork. The simple act of bringing together some experts does not guarantee that turned out an expert team. Given the evidence suggests that teamwork in the operating room sometimes is far from harmonious and effective, the importance of training the surgical team to work effectively is receiving international acceptance as a key strategy to maximize safety in surgery. This systematic literature review aims to present a review of literature that focuses on the importance and role of leadership skills in the surgeon and how these skills can play a significant role in increasing the quality of care and patients’ safety in operating room (OR) settings.