Crafting Tomorrow's Medical Leaders: Insights from Medical Students and Interns in Saudi Arabia.

Introduction: Leadership is increasingly recognized as a crucial competency in medicine, with physicians expected to provide leadership skills throughout their careers. This study explores the perceptions, attitudes, and interests of medical students and interns in Saudi Arabia regarding medical leadership. Medical graduates are expected to "provide leadership skills that enhance team functioning, the learning environment, and the healthcare delivery system", according to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to July 2023, involving 519 medical students and interns in Saudi Arabia. An online survey covered demographic data, perceptions, attitudes, interests, and self-perceived leadership skills. A pilot study was conducted to ensure the questionnaire's validity and reliability. Data were analyzed using SPSS 26, employing descriptive statistics and inferential tests. Results: Most participants had a positive perception of leadership (38.3%), with higher scores associated with medical specialties as a career choice (p < 0.001). The majority expressed average interest in medical leadership (29.1%). Communication and organizational skills were highly self-rated leadership attributes. Barriers to leadership implementation included lack of interest (49.3%), inadequate training (45.1%), and time constraints (43.2%). Only 14.6% rated leadership education in medical school as "very good". Conclusion: This study underscores the importance of leadership in medical education. Integrating comprehensive and structured leadership programs into medical curricula, addressing barriers, and promoting awareness can foster future medical leaders. Continuous evaluation and adaptation are essential for ensuring the relevance and effectiveness of leadership training.

Dermatology residents as educators: a qualitative study of identity formation.

BACKGROUND: One of the many identities a physician comes to form during their career is their identity as an educator. Exploring formation of this identity may enrich our understanding of how physicians make decisions related to their roles as educators, their behaviors, and how this ultimately influences the educational environment. It is the aim of this study to investigate educator identity formation of dermatology residents while early in their careers. METHODS: Drawing on a social constructionist paradigm, we conducted a qualitative study, utilizing an interpretative approach. We examined longitudinal data over a 12-month period using dermatology residents' written reflections from their professional portfolios and semi-structured interviews. We collected this data as we progressed through and beyond a 4-month professional development program designed to encourage residents' growth as educators. Sixty residents in their second, third, or final year of residency programs located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia were invited to take part in this study. Twenty residents participated with sixty written reflections and 20 semi-structured interviews. Qualitative data were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. RESULTS: Sixty written reflections and 20 semi-structured interviews were analyzed. Data was categorized according to themes corresponding to the original research questions. For the first research question regarding identity formation, themes included definitions of education, the process of education, and identity development. For the second research question, 1 theme entitled professional development program included, the following sub-themes: individual act, interpersonal activity, and an organizational undertaking, with many believing that residency programs should prepare residents for their educator roles. Participants also described newfound leadership ambitions of creating new dermatology fellowship programs as a result of taking part in the Resident-as-Educator program. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides insights on the dynamic formation of educator identities amongst dermatology residents. Investment in developing residents as educators through professional development programs may instigate transformational change on the individual physician level and profession's level.

The leadership styles of primary healthcare center managers and center performance outcomes in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: A correlational study.

BACKGROUND: Leadership is a wide concept that is rapidly developing. Diverse theories suggest different styles of leadership, with strong relationships between the different styles and their outcomes. The transformational style emphasizes motivating employees and encouraging them to find new ways of dealing with issues. The transactional (TL) style promotes ideas of rewards and punishments. The Laissez-faire style is characterized by relaxation and the tendency to leave things to happen with minimal interference. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study design conducted in Primary Healthcare Centers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The leadership styles were assessed using a Multi-Factor Leadership Questionnaire, which identifies the different styles of leadership. SPSS v 26.0 was used for data analysis. t-test employed to compare leadership style between raters and managers. Logistics regression model used to determine the influence of leadership styles of managers. Pearson correlation coefficient determined the linear relationship between leadership styles and its domains. RESULTS: A total of 130 respondents (65 managers vs. 65 raters) took part. "Raters" refer to any persons other than the manager, such as a secretary, nurse, doctor. The "manager" is when the person rates himself. The global transformation mean score was 3.55, for TL it was 3.42 and for passive avoidant, the mean score was 0.93. The passive avoidant (t = 2.005; P = 0.047) and management by exception (passive) (MBEP) mean scores of raters were statistically significantly higher than managers. In the binary regression model, MBEP was the independent significant predictor of manager. CONCLUSION: The perceived leadership style of Primary Healthcare Center managers was transformational but with TL. Transformational leadership was positively correlated with TL leadership but negatively correlated with passive avoidant (The Laissez-faire style). The outcome of this study demonstrated that intellectual stimulation, idealized attributes, and inspirational motivation are perhaps better than contingent reward, active management.

Women's leadership in academic medicine: a systematic review of extent, condition and interventions.

OBJECTIVES: Because culture reflects leadership, the making of diverse and inclusive medical schools begins with diversity among leaders. The inclusion of women leaders remains elusive, warranting a systematic exploration of scholarship in this area. We ask: (1) What is the extent of women's leadership in academic medicine? (2) What factors influence women's leadership? (3) What is the impact of leadership development programmes? DESIGN: Systematic review. DATA SOURCES: A systematic search of six online databases (OvidMEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, the Cochrane Library and ERIC) from the earliest date available to April 2018 was conducted. Bridging searches were conducted from April 2018 until October 2019. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: (1) Peer-reviewed; (2) English; (3) Quantitative studies (prospective and retrospective cohort, cross-sectional and preintervention/postintervention); evaluating (4) The extent of women's leadership at departmental, college and graduate programme levels; (5) Factors influencing women's leadership; (6) Leadership development programmes. Quantitative studies that explored women's leadership in journal editorial boards and professional societies and qualitative study designs were excluded. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Two reviewers screened retrieved data of abstracts and full-texts for eligibility, assessment and extracted study-level data independently. The included studies were objectively appraised using the Medical Education Research Quality Study Instrument with an inter-rater reliability of (κ=0.93). RESULTS: Of 4024 records retrieved, 40 studies met the inclusion criteria. The extent of women's leadership was determined through gender distribution of leadership positions. Women's leadership emergence was hindered by institutional requirements such as research productivity and educational credentials, while women's enactment of leadership was hindered by lack of policy implementation. Leadership development programmes had a positive influence on women's individual enactment of leadership and on medical schools' cultures. CONCLUSIONS: Scholarship on women's leadership inadvertently produced institute-centric rather than women-centric research. More robust contextualised scholarship is needed to provide practical-recommendations; drawing on existing conceptual frameworks and using more rigorous research methods.

Women in medical education: views and experiences from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

CONTEXT: Although research from Western contexts suggests that considerable inequalities for female medical educators exist in the workplace, we do not yet know the views and experiences of women within non-Western contexts. By examining the influence of context, intersecting identities and language use, this study explores female medical educators' views and experiences of gender, career progression and leadership in academic medicine in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). METHODS: We conducted individual interviews employing narrative interviewing techniques with 25 female medical educators from five schools in the KSA (June to December 2014). Data were analysed using framework analysis and drew on intersectionality theory. RESULTS: Participants expressed their views and experiences of career progression, leadership and gendered workplace cultures. Women's experiences of career progression and leadership in the KSA were influenced by their gender and varied according to their career stage, work environment and specialty. Participants discussed the gendered organisational cultures of academic medicine in the KSA in terms of gender inequalities (e.g. females being overlooked for leadership positions), gender stereotypes (e.g. women perceived as more likely to take part in shared leadership) and gendered specialties (e.g. surgery being male dominated). We revealed women's more tacit understandings about gender, career progression and leadership by examining how they talk (e.g. metaphoric, pronominal and emotional talk). Finally, participants constructed multiple intersecting personal (e.g. female, mother and young) and professional identities (e.g. doctor, teacher and leader) for themselves through their narratives. CONCLUSION: This study provides important new insights into female medical educators' experiences of career progression and leadership in a non-Western context. Investment in the future of women's careers in the KSA through faculty development initiatives and equality and diversity policies is now essential to help close the gender gap.