Leadership Skills Training in Physicians: Comparison to a Control Group

While the impact of physician leadership training has been demonstrated through descriptive studies, work comparing such programs to control groups of self-directed or on-the-job leadership training has proven challenging to implement.

We designed a comparative study, using pre-and post-test methodology, to assess change in leadership skill level and skill use. We compared 2 groups of OBGYN physicians including individuals who had completed an annually offered Intentional Leadership Training (ILT) program as compared to those completing self-directed or on-the-job leadership training (SD-OJT). ILT program participants completed self-assessment evaluations 6 months after ILT course completion, reflecting on their leadership development on 11 leadership competencies. The SD-OJT group, recruited from a convenience sample of OBGYN educators participating in an annual OBGYN educators' conference (2020), reflected on whether they had experienced on-the-job or self-directed leadership development over the previous 5 years. If they responded affirmatively, they reflected on leadership skill level and skill use on the same 11 leadership competencies before and after their training.

For the ILT group completing the annual course from 2013 to 2019, statistically significant improvement in both leadership skill level and skill use was noted for all 121 participants across all 11 competencies. For the SD-OTJ group (2020), no statistically significant change in skill level or use was noted for any of the 11 competencies.

While self-directed or on-the-job leadership training experiences can offer leadership development opportunities, significantly improved leadership skill level and skill use were seen only in the ILT group studied for the 11 leadership competencies assessed.