An international perspective on medical leadership

Medical leadership is a global policy priority worldwide as it aims at answering some of the greatest challenges of healthcare, including changing patient needs, budget cuts, increasing citizen demand for accountability and rising service expectations. However, the introduction of doctors in management roles is not easy, and the actual practice of medical management greatly varies across countries and within each country. In order to favour its development, policymakers and executives should have the courage to give autonomy to medical managers and to support them, and should acknowledge the specificities of such hybrid roles when selecting, training and appraising future medical leaders. At the same time, professionals and their associations should understand that clinical leadership is not about dismantling professionalism, but rather about reconfiguring it, incorporating new values and logics into the traditional medical culture.