A needs assessment of hospital management and leadership training among Indian medical undergraduates

Medical undergraduate students are often unaware of the managerial aspects of operating a healthcare facility. This leads to confusion and a sense of being lost when they assume administrative roles, highlighting the need for hospital management and leadership training. This prompted us to evaluate the needs of medical undergraduates concerning these crucial aspects.

An exploratory study was conducted on 240 medical undergraduate students to assess the medical undergraduates' need to learn about hospital management and leadership training, their views about the importance and their self-perceived knowledge of the various elements of hospital management and leadership training. A meticulously validated questionnaire, comprising three essential parts, based on the Likert scale was effectively employed in the study. Part A asked students to evaluate the importance of 15 selected elements of hospital management and leadership training, ranging from not important to very important, in their role as a doctor. Part B required the students to assess their self-perceived knowledge levels on a scale from no knowledge to very adequate for the same 15 elements. Part C inquired about the students' opinions on including these topics in their curriculum and, if so, the appropriate timing.

Nearly 75% of the students felt that time management, stress management, and patient safety issues were very important for their role as doctor. Closely following these were communication/ public relation skills, hospital information system & record keeping, quality improvement/assurance, law, ethics & code of conduct. Only 25% of the students reported their self-perceived knowledge as very adequate for almost all the elements. For inclusion in the curriculum, the majority wanted to learn about these elements and throughout the course was the preferred timing.

The students felt that hospital management and leadership training were pivotal for their roles as doctors. They expressed a lack of sufficient knowledge in these areas and the need for these important aspects to be included in their curriculum as a longitudinal course.