Importance of managerial roles in physician leaders' work evaluated by medical students: a mixed methods approach

This study aims to investigate final-year medical students' perceptions regarding the significance of different managerial roles in fulfilling physician leaders' work.

In 2020, an electronic questionnaire was distributed to all final-year medical students at the University of Oulu, Finland. A quantitative analysis of managerial roles, based on Mintzberg's model, utilized statements rated on a five-point Likert scale. Statistical assessments examined differences in role importance relative to students' age, gender, and educational background. The free-text responses underwent qualitative deductive content analysis and quantification.

In total, 110 participants (68%) responded. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses underscored the high importance of different managerial roles in leadership work. Female respondents attributed greater importance to the monitoring role (mean Likert scale score of 4.6 vs. 4.1, p < 0.0001). Age exhibited a slight negative correlation with the disseminator role (rs = -0.2, p = 0.04), while previous higher education did not significantly influence the importance of Mintzberg's roles.

This study underscores the necessity for physicians to embody different managerial roles, emphasizing the need for comprehensive leadership education to manage operations and lead subordinates. The heightened importance assigned to the monitoring role by female students is significant, considering the increasing number of female physicians. Mintzberg's framework could offer an additional tool for leadership education in medical curricula.

This study marks the first exploration of final-year medical students' perspectives on the importance of managerial roles in the physician leaders' work through Mintzberg's model.