Importance of Medical Leadership Development: A Global Perspective with Special Reference to the Indian Healthcare System

JOURNAL TITLE: International Journal of Research Foundation of Hospital and Healthcare Administration

Author
1. Vikas Madhukar
2. Kamal Gulati
3. Chitra Sarkar
4. Shakti K Gupta
ISSN
2347-4254
DOI
10.5005/jp-journals-10035-1089
Volume
6
Issue
1
Publishing Year
2018
Pages
6
Author Affiliations
    1. All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, E-mail: sarkarcs@hotmail.com
    2. All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
    3. All India Institute of Medical Sciences New Delhi, India
    1. Dr. RP Centre of Ophthalmic Sciences, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
    1. Clinical Epidemiology Unit, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
    1. Department of Management, Amity Business School, Amity University, Gurugram, Haryana, India
  • Article keywords
    Canmeds, Competencies, Leadership, Leadership models/frameworks, Management, National Health Service, The Health Care Leadership Alliance, Training and development, UK-Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management

    Abstract

    Medical leadership has in the last decade assumed great importance globally. The reason for this is the proven link between effectiveness of leadership and improved clinical outcomes. With increasing demands for delivering high quality patient care at lower cost, physicians are expected to embrace leadership roles. Traditionally, medical schools do not teach leadership either at undergraduate or postgraduate levels. Also efforts to develop leadership skills among ‘in service’ professionals are minuscule and not very effective due to lack of structured leadership development programmes. This causes a significant “leadership gap” in medicine across a wide range of organizations. In order to bridge this gap, many countries viz. UK, USA, Canada etc. have designed specific leadership models and are conducting leadership development programs at various career stages of doctors to address the needs of the changing healthcare systems. However, not much work has been done in India in this direction. It is high time that medical schools and organizations in India begin to formalize leadership training at all stages of medical education and career. It will be prudent to design a leadership development programme targeting the needs of Indian doctors with special reference to the rapidly expanding Indian healthcare sector. This will help to create more doctors who are not only skilled as “competent physicians” but also as “competent physicianleaders”. This article analyzes the leadership competencies critical for medical doctors and methods to develop them as well as reviews the important medical leadership models and programmes available globally.

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