Investigating Leadership Beliefs Among Medical Students Before and After Women's Physician Panel

Abstract

BACKGROUND While the number of female medical student graduates and residents continues to rise, women still hold a minority of visible leadership positions in medicine. Many factors are at play such as personal values, time commitment, and experience, which influence applying for and obtaining such positions. STUDY OBJECTIVE Our goal was to investigate the ways students can serve as leaders and learn from women physician role models who have held a variety of formal and informal positions. This study was designed to understand medical students’ perspectives of leadership and how beliefs may change after attending a women’s physician panel. METHODS Phase 1 medical students completed anonymous surveys before and after attending a one-hour “Women in Leadership” panel featuring three women physicians at different career stages. During the event, two audience participation activities were performed. The first involved students generating a digital word cloud using words they selected to describe characteristics of good leaders, and the second was ranking values they deemed important based on results from Barrett's Personal Value Assessment. The pre-survey collected demographic information and asked participants to define leadership. The post-survey asked them to define leadership again, questioned how the panel altered their views on women in leadership, and for one main takeaway from the panel. Both surveys asked participants to indicate the extent to which they agreed with seven statements regarding their opinions about leadership positions, their own leadership abilities, leadership opportunities, and how their values affect their career goals. RESULTS There were 15 attendees at the panel, and thirteen individuals completed both the pre- and post-surveys with 85% identifying as female and 15% identifying as male. In both surveys, all respondents agreed or strongly agreed that it is important for women to be in visible leadership roles. When defining leadership after the panel, there was greater emphasis on confidence, active listening, and integrity. Five out of 13 participants reported feeling more confident in being in a leadership role after the panel, while eight reported no increase or no change in confidence. Additionally, when comparing post-survey to pre-survey results, six out of 13 respondents reported an increase in how often they think about how their values impact their career goals, while six respondents reported no change, and one respondent reported a decrease. Key takeaways from the panel included giving oneself more grace, how leadership is a skill that can be developed, advocating for oneself and others, and “I can be a leader.” These results aligned with common themes shared by the panelists, including maintaining a growth mindset, becoming comfortable with managing conflicts, and manifesting leadership qualities without an official title. CONCLUSION This study emphasizes the importance of women physicians serving as leaders and sharing their experiences with medical students. Discussing qualities of leadership, reflecting on one’s personal values, and listening to women physicians share their stories can help students develop a better understanding of how they can serve as leaders, with or without a title, throughout all stages of their medical training.