Sensitizing first-year medical undergraduate students to principles of leadership

Abstract

Introduction: Literature on implementation leadership program in undergraduate (UG) medical education is lacking in the Asian continent. We aim to describe our experience in sensitizing the 1st year undergraduate medical students (UGMS) toward the principles of leadership in a medical institution. Materials and Methods: Each year, one hundred 1st year UGMS were sensitized towards leadership principles and core domains through interactive sessions, focus group discussions, and short lectures. The students were asked to reflect on the sessions' activities as well as their follow-up usefulness in their day-to-day activities through a structured questionnaire shared through Google forms. Results: A high proportion (75%) of students reported an improved perception or knowledge toward leadership principles and practices. Leadership attributes such as team building, decision making, confidence building, motivation, and managing crisis were reported to be very useful by 77.8%, 74.1%, 69.1%, 64.2%, and 61.7% of students, respectively. On follow-up, students described this sensitization exercise to be useful in their academic (16/52, 30.76%), organizational (10/52, 19.2%), sports (6/52, 11.53%), short-term research (4/52, 7.7%) activities, and editorial responsibilities (3/52, 5.7%). Conclusion: The leadership sensitization workshop helps students adjust to the medical school's environment; and this may be incorporated in the UG curriculum to strengthen students' leadership potential. The following core competencies are addressed in this article: Systems-based practice, Interpersonal and communication skills, Professionalism.