Preparing academic medical department physicians to successfully lead

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a case study which details the successful development, design and deployment of a leadership course for academic medical department chairs. The course provides a needed local and contextual alternative to the lengthy and often theoretical MBA/MHA. Design/methodology/approach – Faculty developers used a multi-tiered methodology for developing the physician leadership course. The methodology consisted of literature findings, needs assessment, stakeholder input and structured interviews with administrative leaders. Findings – The research, stakeholder input and interviews revealed an increasing number of physician leaders with a general lack of fundamental administrative leadership skills. These shortfalls are largely because of underexposure to core management competencies during medical school and limited contextual knowledge outside their organization. There is an urgent need for leadership development opportunities aimed at current and future academic med...