Student-led leadership training for undergraduate healthcare students

Abstract

Purpose: Effective clinical leadership is crucial to avoid failings in the delivery of safe health care, particularly during a period of increasing scrutiny and cost-constraints for the National Health Service (NHS). However, there is a paucity of leadership training for health-care students, the future leaders of the NHS, which is due in part to overfilled curricula. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of student-led leadership training for the benefit of fellow students. Design/methodology/approach: To address this training gap, a group of multiprofessional students organised a series of large-group seminars and small-group workshops given by notable health-care leaders at a London university over the course of two consecutive years. Findings: The majority of students had not previously received any formal exposure to leadership training. Feedback post-events were almost universally positive, though students expressed a preference for experiential teaching of leadership. Working with university faculty, an inaugural essay prize was founded and student members were given the opportunity to complete internships in real-life quality improvement projects. Originality/value: Student-led teaching interventions in leadership can help to fill an unmet teaching need and help to better equip the next generation of health-care workers for future roles as leaders within the NHS.