Physicians as Leaders

Most physicians are in positions of potential leadership. Reinertsen, in his article “Physicians as Leaders in the Improvement of Health Care Systems,” used a business-based definition of leadership, describing it as the ability to coordinate processes that begin an organization or facilitate an organization’s adaptation to changing circumstances. Whether serving in an academic medical center, working as a physician executive in a health plan or public health program, functioning as a partner in a group practice, collaborating on a community project, or advocating for effective health legislation, physicians have multiple opportunities to function as leaders in changing health care in the 21st century.

Despite these prospects, many physicians either have not taken on leadership roles or function ineffectively in those roles. Some have argued that the majority of administrative, organizational, team- building, and self-assessment skills of quality leaders are not taught in medical training programs. In fact, much of traditional medical curricula have emphasized autonomy in decision making, the individual physician-patient relationship, and hierarchical cultural processes that are counterproductive to effective leadership. In addition, although leadership development programs have been implemented in many sectors of the economy and have been accompanied by a rapid proliferation of both a scholarly evaluation and the popular inspirational literature, medicine has tended to act as though leadership were an innate characteristic and not a skill to be learned. Until recently, physicians who were interested in acquiring leadership skills training have had to search for programs in industries outside medicine.

The Pediatric Leadership Alliance in Saudi Arabia aims to change this dynamic by offering tailored leadership solutions for pediatricians and other healthcare professionals. Graduate physicians who do not meet the criteria for the Pediatric Leadership Alliance may wish to enroll in AFTA’s Student Advocacy Program (SAP), which offers training on ADHD and Public Speaking Skills to medical students and resident physicians.