Year in review: tips for effective graduate medical education programme leadership and management.

Programme leaders in graduate medical education (GME) are responsible for the final stage of physician training, guiding the transition from supervised to independent practice. The influence of GME programme leaders extends beyond clinical practice, affecting trainees' relationship with and attitudes towards the healthcare system, future leadership behaviours, work-life prioritisations and professional identity among others. Given the potential magnitude of GME programme leaders' impact, both positive and negative, on GME trainees, we reflected on our shared leadership model that developed iteratively as a leadership team. We draw on our experiences to emphasise practical leadership behaviours and provide a summary of our observations, leading to nine recommendations for effective GME programme leadership and associated suggestions for implementation. We divide our recommendations into four leadership recommendations and five management recommendations. Throughout, we highlight the process of developing our shared leadership model, recognising that our process and observations will aid leadership teams in evaluating and, potentially, adapting our recommendations to meet their needs. We anticipate that leaders and leadership teams at every level will find value in our recommendations, even if our intended audience is GME leaders from chief residents to programme directors.

Read to Lead: Developing a Leadership Book Club Curriculum for Graduate Medical Education.

Background: The importance of effective leadership for improving patient care and physician well-being is gaining increased attention in medicine. Despite this, few residency programs have formalized education on leadership in medicine. The most effective ways to train graduate medical education (GME) trainees in leadership are unclear. Methods: Our large internal medicine residency program implemented a book club to develop leadership skills in residency. Through independent reading of the selected book and resident-led small group discussions, we facilitated dialogue on the challenges of leading effectively. Results: A survey-based curricular evaluation demonstrated that 61% of respondents felt that the book club influenced their thoughts about leadership and that 66% of participants would recommend the book club to other residency programs. Lack of time was the main barrier to participation while addition of complementary media or alternative book formats were identified as possible solutions to increase engagement. Conclusions: Leadership book clubs are a practical and effective way to teach leadership during residency. More research is needed to identify the best formats for book club discussion and to develop additional tools to foster future physician leaders.

Reflective Essays During Clerkship Following a Pre-clerkship Leadership Curriculum.

Introduction: Leadership curricula in medical student education require assessment - to determine if leadership skills can be taught to medical students and applied during clinical and medical team interactions to aid in medical student leadership development. Objectives: To examine whether medical students applied principles of their pre-clerkship leadership curriculum (character, competence, context, and communication elements across four levels: personal, interpersonal, team, and organizational) during an internal medicine clerkship. Methods: Using art as a prompt, Uniformed Services University (USU) internal medicine clerkship students completed a structured reflection on a critical incident. Medical student essays written during a 10-week internal medicine clerkship at USU in 2019 were collected. 158 medical student submissions were de-identified and analyzed. Results: Sixty-four submissions (40.5%) focused on leadership or leadership and professionalism. Students identified as male (n = 34, 53%), female (21, 33%), or not reported (9, 14%). Most, 48 (75%), did not describe PITO explicitly in their essay. They instead focused on personal and interpersonal aspects (17, 27%) of leadership, the attending physicians they worked with (33, 52%), and effective leadership strategies (46, 72%). The most common themes written about were responsibility (30, 47%), teamwork (18, 28%), competence (17, 27%), and character/integrity (15, 23%). Conclusion: Although the students' explicit use of the PITO model was limited, student essays centered on themes that reflected leadership concepts taught in pre-clerkship years, such as character, competence, and responsibility. This study demonstrates that an internal medicine clerkship rotation can feasibly implement a leadership reflection.