A case study of a pilot leadership skills program to clarify professional fulfillment sources for academic physicians

In this case study, the authors aimed to investigate the usefulness of five interactive workshops on leadership skills relevant to academic physicians for their professional fulfillment. Workshops were led by experts in finance, negotiation, business administration and digital tools and enhanced a practical understanding of skills in 1) financial investment; 2) growing clout on social media; 3) negotiation; 4) navigating institutional culture as a woman; and 5) conflict management.

Workshops were deployed to faculty in the departments of Radiology and Psychiatry. Attendance at seminars was captured, categorized as in-person (when offered), virtual-live or virtual-recording views post hoc. The authors also collected responses to a brief, 5-question survey which assessed faculty familiarity with the topic pre-and post-seminar and evaluated the perceived relevance of the topic to professional fulfillment.

The highest attendance was for the seminar on financial investments, and the lowest attendance was for that on conflict management. The seminar that the highest proportion of respondents deemed important as a leadership skill was on the topic of navigating institutional culture as a woman in the workplace. The seminar that focused on cultivating clout on social media was the seminar that the highest proportion of respondents deemed worth attending.

From this case study, the authors learned that financial literacy, discerning institutional culture, managing conflicts, negotiating and using digital tools are topics which have relevance to physician professional fulfillment. Such topics could be valuable as the building blocks for future programs which provide leadership training to physicians.