Family Medicine Vital Signs

By: Sonja Van Hala, MD, MPH; Susan Cochella, MD, MPH; Rachel Jaggi, MA; Caren J. Frost, PhD, MPH; Bernadette Kiraly, MD; Susan Pohl, MD; and Lisa Gren, PhD

Below is an excerpt from a previously published article on STFM Journals. Click HERE for the entire article and research results.

Physicians in all disciplines are called upon to demonstrate leadership skills even if they do not hold a formal leadership role. Additionally, organizations led by physicians perform better than organizations with nonphysician leaders (1). For these reasons, leadership skill development must become a routine part of medical education at all levels and in all specialties (1-20).

National organizations recognize the need for effective leadership training. The Interprofessional Education Collaborative defined competencies in interprofessional collaboration for a variety of medical professionals, including physicians, that include the use of leadership skills to support collaborative practice and team effectiveness (21). The Institute of Medicine’s July 2014 report Graduate Medical Education that Meets the Nation’s Health Needs recommended “production of a physician workforce better prepared to work in, help lead, and continually improve an evolving health care delivery system that can provide better individual care, better population health, and lower cost.” (19) The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Milestones for Family Medicine specify competencies in team leadership, collaboration with public health and community agencies, advocacy, and leadership of systems and organizational strategies (22). The ACGME Milestones for Internal Medicine and Pediatrics identify competencies in team management, communication, practice improvement, and advocacy (23,24).

While many innovative curricula have been developed, few target all learners, use a validated assessment, or show meaningful impact (25-30). Validated assessment is needed to demonstrate impact and compare curriculum (9,14,31-42). A systematic review of leadership training in health care teams found that defining best practices is difficult due to lack of a standard definition of leadership, supporting frameworks, and robust assessments (35).

Though assessments do exist for health care administrators, practicing physicians, and surgeons’ nontechnical skills in the operating room (including leadership), there are no published assessment instruments of leadership skills for physicians in residency training programs (17-20,22,30,43-45). Knowing that leadership development covers a broad spectrum, we specifically wanted to describe the foundational skills that early-career physicians, specifically residents, need to learn to be effective team leaders. Residents routinely participate in interprofessional teams focused on clinical care and quality improvement. Theoretically, though, foundational leadership skills should translate across a variety of settings.

The purpose of this study was to develop a health care leadership self-assessment of foundational competencies and validate the tool among family medicine residents.

To read the rest of the study, please click HERE.

AUTHORS:
Sonja Van Hala, MD, MPH, is an Associate Professor (Clinical) in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of Utah. 

Susan Cochella, MD, MPH, is a Professor (Clinical) in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of Utah. 

Rachel Jaggi, MA, is a Research Analyst in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of Utah. 

Caren J. Frost, PhD, MPH, is a Research Professor in the College of Social Work at the University of Utah. 

Bernadette Kiraly, MD, is an Associate Professor (Clinical) in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of Utah. 

Susan Pohl, MD, is an Assistant Professor (Clinical) in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of Utah.

Lisa Gren, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of Utah.