An exploration of ‘perception of self’ as medical leader – does perception of self require a paradigm shift from clinician to clinical leader?

Background: Clinical leadership is key to quality improvement however there is limited research regarding doctors’ perceptions of clinical leadership. Aim: To investigate senior trainees’ perception of self as medical leader and explore what influenced their perception. Methods: A questionnaire with open and closed questions was distributed before and after a medical leadership module. Twelve trainees were then interviewed. Results: One hundred and fifty-six questionnaires were completed (95.7% response rate). A significant number of senior trainees did not consider themselves to be a leader however there was a statistically significant shift in their self-perception during the programme. Themes identified during the interviews included: a lack of understanding of the leadership concept, a lack of clarity of the medical leader’s role and vehicles for perspective transformation. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study to explore senior trainees’ perception of self as medical leader. Findings suggest, following a paradigm shift from clinician to clinical leader senior trainees are a potential, valuable resource for quality improvement. To aid understanding of the leadership self-development process, a conceptual model is offered. The significance of the model is its focus on the individual’s leadership paradigm, as the starting point for self-exploration. This model could inform leadership development programmes.