Open AccessESSENTIAL LEADERSHIP DOMAINS AND STRATEGIES TO ENHANCE LEADERSHIP SKILLS AMONG UNDERGRADUATE MEDICAL STUDENTS: A MIXED METHODS STUDY
Author(s) -
Syed Muslim Abbas,
Abid Asher
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
pakistan armed forces medical journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2411-8842
pISSN - 0030-9648
DOI - 10.51253/pafmj.v71i5.3760
Subject(s) - nonprobability sampling , focus group , medical education , curriculum , medicine , inclusion (mineral) , leadership development , psychology , pedagogy , management , sociology , social psychology , population , environmental health , anthropology , economics
Objective: To explore medical undergraduate students’ perceptions pertaining to the key domains of leadership and highlight strategies to enhance leadership skills in undergraduate studies.
Study Design: Mixed methods study.
Place and Duration of Study: Fatima Memorial Hospital College of Medicine & Dentistry, Lahore, from Sep to Oct 2019.
Methodology: A total of 207 medical students were recruited from the first and final year by purposive sampling to fill out a structured questionnaire. Three focus group discussions were conducted comprising of twelve students in each group. All focus groups were audio-recorded, anonymized and transcribed verbatim before the analysis by framework analysis technique.
Results: Total fifty percent of the first-year students were of the view that ensuring patient safety was an important component of the leadership domain of improving services whereas only 11% responded as critically evaluating as a component of this domain. The themes that emerged pertaining to the strategies to enhance leadership skills included increasing awareness, role models depicting change, cultural challenges, and supplementing existing practices.
Conclusions: The validated essential domains of leadership and its associated competencies should be streamlined strategically and prioritized in accordance with the level of training of the undergraduate medical students. A multicentre study is suggested to gather data at the national level which could inform further development of inclusion of leadership domains within undergraduate MBBS curriculum.