Conducting the emergency team: A novel way to train the team-leader for emergencies

Worldwide, medical supervisors find it difficult to get students to rise to the occasion when called upon to act as leaders of emergency teams: many residents/rescuers feel unprepared to adopt the leadership role. The challenge is to address the residents very strong emotions caused by the extremely stressful context. No systematic leadership training takes this aspect into account.

The overall aim of the course is to investigate whether, in an emergency, a clinical team leader could apply a conductor's leadership skills.

An orchestral conductor is a specialist in practicing leadership focusing on non-verbal communication. The conductor works with highly trained specialists and must lead them to cooperate and put his interpretation into effect. The conductor works purposefully in order to appear calm, genuine and gain authority.

A conductor and a consultant prepared a course for residents, medical students and nurses, n = 61. Ten × two course days were completed. The exercises were musical and thus safe for the students as there were no clinical skills at stake. The programme aimed to create stress and anxiety in a safe learning environment.

The transfer of a conductor's skills improved and profoundly changed the participating students', nurses' and residents' behaviour and introduced a method to handle anxiety and show calmness and authority.

If this course in leadership is to be introduced as a compulsory part of the educating of doctors, the ideal time would be after clinical skills have been acquired, experience gained and routines understood in the clinic.