Developing the doctor manager: reflecting on the personal costs

These reflections focus on the development of doctors as managers in the National Health Service and the way that their participation is directly influenced by the personal costs perceived to their professional roles as doctors. Research has indicated some of the problems surrounding the development of doctors as managers. Although training has led to a reduction in stress, women doctors are having to contend with a glass ceiling which is double and even sometimes triple glazed, team development is not being addressed adequately, and succession planning is occurring by default rather than design. The application of domain theory to the issue can provide some guidance for the organisation, but as individual organisations like hospitals interpret these changes in a unique way, it is suggested that the key training for the future will need to focus on transition skills between organisations, and will require interpretive and adaptive responses from both doctors and managers if they are to continue to collaborate successfully in the managerial domain.