Learning to lead: Student perceptions of team leaders in medical school

Early medical education courses provide opportunities for promoting leadership in future physicians. Our research sought to integrate explicit activities of teamwork and leadership into the first‐year gross anatomy course and assess student leaders through self reflection and team evaluation. Fifty first‐year medical students were assigned to three‐ or four‐member dissection teams with group leaders designated on a rotating basis. Teamwork was emphasized through daily group quizzes, oral patient presentations relating clinical diagnoses to anatomy, and extensive embryology presentations. Group leaders were responsible for leading the dissections after attending daily orientation sessions on the teaching cadaver. Team and self evaluations of group leaders were gathered with weekly electronic surveys. Preliminary results suggest that team leaders rate themselves lower than their teammates do with respect to altruism, accountability and responsibility. One explanation for this discrepancy is decreased self‐awareness of student leaders regarding their own performance. Further research may demonstrate whether increased communication between leaders and team members can improve leaders' awareness of their capabilities. Research support came from the Mayo Clinic Department of Anatomy. Grant Funding Source N/A