Opportunities to develop leadership skills in the undergraduate diagnostic radiography program: Insights from students at an Australian university

Abstract

Introduction/BackgroundLeadership is defined as the ability to influence others to work towards common visions and goals. A key principle of the Australian Health Leadership Framework is that it applies to all leaders and potential leaders, who are at any place in the system. Hence, leadership is everyone's responsibility, including health profession students. In this short communication, we discuss the concept of leadership development in the undergraduate diagnostic radiography (DR) program through experiential learning. Examples from students’ and academics’ perspectives are presented, with the intention of providing a broad context to the range of opportunities that support development of leadership skills in DR students. DiscussionExperience and experiential learning are fundamental and natural means of learning. Experiential learning has a positive effect on leadership because of its impact on personal, attitudinal, moral, social, and cognitive outcomes. Undergraduate DR students value opportunities to develop leadership skills during their university education. Four opportunities to develop and reflect on leadership skills are discussed. Two of the opportunities, clinical placements and honours programs, form part of the curricula, whilst others, such as mentoring and profession-specific social groups, are not. Through experience-based learning, students may benefit from transformational effects in their individual skills, which may ultimately benefit the organisation or community in which the individual participates. ConclusionCommitment from clinical and academic educators to enable leadership development in DR students is essential. Through implementation of obligatory and optional experiential learning opportunities, it is anticipated that leadership skills will be cultivated in DR students, enabling students to exercise effective leadership in their current student roles and establish essential skills for their future professional roles.