Skills and attributes of directors of educational programmes

The purpose of this study was to obtain a list of desirable skills and attributes of prospective educational programme directors as judged by potential employers of future directors.

An international mail survey was conducted worldwide, using a one-page, open-ended questionnaire.

University of Illinois at Chicago, USA.

Deans, department heads and chief executive officers from the various health professions.

A total of 139 respondents completed the questionnaire (22. 3% response rate). Responses were remarkably similar across health professions. The nine leading skills were: oral communication skills, interpersonal skills, competent practitioner, educational goal-definition skills, educational design skills, problem-solving and decision-making skills, team worker and building skills, written communication skills and fiscal manager and budgeting skills. The three leading personal attributes were: visionary, flexible and open-minded and trustworthy and value-driven individual.

The complete list of skills and attributes can be used by employers or administrators to build checklist items when hiring or reviewing programme directors or to plan and evaluate training programmes. The importance of leadership compared to managerial responsibilities is discussed as well as the need to train future educational programme directors.