51 Perceptions of medical professionals on medical leadership training in medical school

• Published in: BMJ leader Vol. 5; no. Suppl 1; p. A19
• Main Authors: Mughal, Aishah Zubaida, Fellows, Jade, Shah, Haroon Ali
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 01.11.2021; BMJ Publishing Group LTD
• Subjects: Abstracts; Education; Leadership training; Medical personnel; Medical schools; Medical students; Questionnaires; Schools; Students; Training
• ISSN: 2398-631X; 2398-631X
• DOI: 10.1136/leader-2021-FMLM.51

Background & AimsPerceptions and attitudes amongst medical professionals, particularly medical students, surrounding medical leadership training remains little understood. There is a paucity of data surrounding the effectiveness of medical leadership teaching within medical school curriculums. This questionnaire-based study aims to explore the opinions of medical leadership training amongst those attending virtual webinars organised by a university leadership society.MethodsA questionnaire-based study was performed by a team of senior medical students on the Birmingham Medical Leadership Society (BMLS) committee at the University of Birmingham Medical School from July 2020 to January 2021. Questionnaires were offered to all attendees across 12 online webinars. Responses were recorded electronically and independently collated.Results88.7% of attendees were medical students, with the remaining attendees comprising of doctors (7.5%) and other allied healthcare professionals. 32.3% of participants were interested in intercalating in medical leadership and felt opportunities to intercalate were available. 18.1% of attendees were interested in intercalating in medical leadership but felt an opportunity to intercalate was not available. 46.6% of participants strongly agreed that medical leadership should be taught at an undergraduate level, however, a third (33.1%) disagreed that the proportion of medical leadership education delivered at medical school was adequate.ConclusionWhilst strategies have been implemented to improve undergraduate medical leadership education, further work is required to mitigate barriers to effective leadership training. Medical schools should regularly assess the opinions of students in order to optimise medical education and ensure opportunities to explore medical leadership, such as through intercalation, are made available to all students.Presenting authorAishah Zubaida Mughal