Incorporating Faculty and Student Co-leadership in Workgroup Structures

In 2020, the Dean of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine created a college-wide task force to address inequities in the medical school curriculum. The task force consisted of four workgroups, each co-chaired by a faculty member and a student. This co-leadership model was chosen because it provided diverse perspectives and addressed the typical faculty-student power differentials. This co-leadership model balanced knowledge of medical education curriculum with the student experience. It also provided the opportunity for the co-chairs to take on new roles in leadership development: the student assumed a leadership role running the workgroup with guidance from the faculty member, while the faculty member gained insight and perspective on diversity and inclusion from the student. The purpose of this article is to describe our lessons learned during this co-leadership process.