Victorian junior doctors' perception of their competency and training needs in healthcare management

Australian medical speciality colleges have adapted and integrated the CanMEDS Physician Competency Framework into their training programs. The role as manager is one of the competencies and is presently thought to receive little attention during training. The objective of our study was to investigate the perceptions of Australian junior doctors regarding their management skills and their perceived need for management education.

In November and December 2011, 1376 junior doctors from eight Victorian metropolitan health services were invited via email to participate in this study. Participating junior doctors received a questionnaire regarding their self- perceived management skills and knowledge and a medical management training needs assessment.

The response rate of one of the health centres was too low (6%) and therefore insufficient for credible conclusions to be drawn. Of the other health services, 194 (16%) out of 1213 junior doctors responded to the survey. Overall, the junior doctors rated their perceived competency on a 1-5 Likert scale as moderate (mean 3.45; s.d. 0.42). Of the 194 residents who responded, 71.3% (n=139) reported a need for management training.

The junior doctors of Victoria, Australia perceived their knowledge on medical management as moderate. The results of this study showed that there is a perceived need among junior doctors for more management training. This need seems to confirm that management skills are thought to be valuable in medical practice. Our study also suggests that before the development of specific interventions, there is a need for a gap analysis between the perceived and actual management skills desired in medical residents. The attention paid to the role 'as manager' should therefore be embedded in training of all junior doctors.