Implementing a pilot leadership course for internal medicine residents: Design considerations, participant impressions, and lessons learned

Abstract

Background: Effective clinical leadership is associated with better patient care. We implemented and evaluated pilot clinical leadership course for second year internal medicine residents at a large United States Academi Medical Center that is part of a multi-hospital health system Methods: The course met weekly for two to three hours during July, 2013. Sessions included large grou discussions and small group reflection meetings. Topics included leadership styles, emotional intelligence, an leading clinical teams. Course materials were designed internally and featured "business school style" case studie about everyday clinical medicine which explore how leadership skills impact care delivery. Participants evaluate the course's impact and quality using a post-course survey. Questions were structured in five point likert scale an free text format. Likert scale responses were converted to a 1-5 scale (1 = strongly disagree; 3 = neither agree no disagree; 5 = strongly agree), and means were compared to the value 3 using one-way T-Tests. Responses to fre text questions were analyzed using the constant comparative method Results: All sixteen pilot course participants completed the survey. Participants overwhelmingly agreed that th course provided content and skills relevant to their clinical responsibilities and leadership roles. Most participant also acknowledged that taking the course improved their understanding of their strengths and weaknesses a leaders, different leadership styles, and how to manage interpersonal conflict on clinical teams. 88% also reporte that the course increased their interest in pursuing additional leadership training Conclusions: A clinical leadership course for internal medicine residents designed by colleagues, and utilizing cas studies about clinical medicine, resulted in significant self-reported improvements in clinical leadership competencies.