Leadership Training in the Medical School Curriculum: A National Landscape Analysis

Abstract

Purpose: Physicians are expected to practice in a rapidly changing, team-based environment, and leadership skills are becoming more valuable for graduating physicians if they are to serve as leaders of these teams. However, it is unclear if academic medical institutions are teaching these skills to medical students. Methods: In 2015, a database search of the terms “teamwork” and “leadership” was conducted of the Curriculum Inventory, a collection of undergraduate medical curricular materials. Additionally, an original survey of medical students assessing attitudes and perceptions of leadership training was designed and piloted. This survey was distributed via the communications channels of several national-level organizations and via snowball sampling. Results: The database search resulted in 164 courses, from 57 allopathic U.S. medical schools. Of these courses, 48.8% addressed “teamwork” and 34.8% addressed leadership or leadership development. Only 4.3% of courses addressed team management, and 7.3% courses addressed change leadership. In response to the survey questions, medical students believed that there were sufficient opportunities to work within teams (81.7%) and to learn about creating a climate of continuous improvement (79.2%). However, 47.8% of students believed that there were insufficient opportunities to learn to manage teams within the medical school curriculum. Respondents indicated that they were more likely than not to take a class that taught leadership skills. Conclusion: Medical students have voiced a desire to be leaders and willingness to complete courses that offer leadership training, but few institutions report that their curricula offer sufficient coursework in team management or change leadership.