Discipline-specific competency-based curricula for leadership learning in medical specialty training

Abstract

Purpose Doctors play a central role in leading improvements to healthcare systems. Leadership knowledge and skills are not inherent, however, and need to be learned. General frameworks for medical leadership guide curriculum development in this area. Explicit discipline-linked competency sets and programmes provide context for learning and likely enhance specialty trainees' capability for leadership at all levels. The aim of this review was to summarise the scholarly literature available around medical specialty-specific competency-based curricula for leadership in the post-graduate training space. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature search method was applied using the Medline, EMBASE and ERIC (education) online databases. Documents were reviewed for a complete match to the research question. Partial matches to the study topic were noted for comparison. Findings In this study, 39 articles were retrieved in full text for detailed examination, of which 32 did not comply with the full inclusion criteria. Seven articles defining discipline-linked competencies/curricula specific to medical leadership training were identified. These related to the areas of emergency medicine, general practice, maternal and child health, obstetrics and gynaecology, pathology, radiology and radiation oncology. Leadership interventions were critiqued in relation to key features of their design, development and content, with reference to modern leadership concepts. Practical implications There is limited discipline-specific guidance for the learning and teaching of leadership within medical specialty training programmes. The competency sets identified through this review may aid the development of learning interventions and tools for other medical disciplines. Originality/value The findings of this study provide a baseline for the further development, implementation and evaluation work required to embed leadership learning across all medical specialty training programmes.

Can radiation oncologists learn to be better leaders? Outcomes of a pilot Foundations of Leadership in Radiation Oncology program for trainees delivered via personal electronic devices

“…Several trainees stated that using familiar workplace situations to illustrate leadership concepts made them think differently about how they were already demonstrating aspects of leadership. These responses give validity to the notion that leadership curricula describing discipline‐tailored, as well as more generalised, competencies might be effective in helping trainees attain such awareness …”

“…These responses give validity to the notion that leadership curricula describing discipline-tailored, as well as more generalised, competencies might be effective in helping trainees attain such awareness. 11 There were potential limitations to this project. The first two relate to the QStream platform, chosen due to its suitability for delivering online spaced learning and automatic collation of outcome reports.…”

“…Supervisors or other senior colleagues may feel that development of leadership skills is not core to training, and/or they may not have the resources or skills to teach these. Discipline‐specific learning programs may help to overcome perceived lack of relevance . Furthermore, novel delivery methods including online learning may partially address the lack of time in already crammed training programs.…”

Unlocking medical leadership’s potential: a multilevel virtuous circle?

“…Arguably, the design, planning and delivery of ML training, often hosted by professional associations or ‘in house’ by healthcare organisations,3 4 6 54 need to reflect on such contestations. These also need to take into account that generic or one-size-fits-all approaches can be inappropriate at the level of individual doctors.…”

“…To be effective, ML development activities should be adequately tailored to the perspectives of doctors’ specialties, varying from clinical setting (eg, geography, payment structure, clinic size, population), medical specialty, career stage and experiential repertoire, to their individual traits and personal needs and interests. Ultimately, the often relatively time-consuming, hence highly resourced and expensive ML development activities will gain greater legitimacy when well aligned with the individual, but also when rooted in high levels of regional healthcare ecosystem appropriateness 6 54. Therefore, we reason ML development at the individual doctor level is importantly informed by professional, organisational and ecosystem-level perspectives, illuminated in the preceding sections.…”