Abstract Details

Title Leadership and Professional Development Innovation in a Military Adult Neurology Residency Program to Enhance Medical Readiness

Topic Education, Research, and Methodology

Presentation(s) P10 - Poster Session 10 (8:00 AM-9:00 AM)

Poster/Presentation
Number 7-002

Background Physicians may be asked to lead healthcare stakeholders. In military healthcare specifically, physicians are frequently expected to lead at early stages of their careers. Leading successfully can be difficult; in the business world, experts estimate up to 50% of those leading U.S. companies fail, despite roughly $14 billion spent annually on leadership development. We hypothesized that residents surveyed would (1) report a paucity of formal leadership training, (2) cite a desire for purposeful education, and (3) grassroots seminars will be an effective intervention.

Objective To determine prior experience with leadership and professionalism education across a neurology residency program, and report the positive reception of a new year-long internal seminar curriculum aimed at enhancing leadership potential of early-career neurologists.

Design/Methods An electronic, voluntary, anonymous survey was shared within the Neurology Department of a military, academic, Level 1 Trauma Center. One-hour grass-root seminars were held on topics including healthcare disparities and implicit bias, effective teaming, negotiations, and healthcare law. Pre- and post-seminar surveys were analyzed.

Results Seventeen initial survey participants responded. 60% endorsed “minimal exposure” to formal leadership education. 92% agreed that residents would benefit from more. The perceived importance of leadership skills increased with level of medical training. 100% of initial seminar participants were interested in additional learning. The healthcare law seminar significantly improved topic understanding (p=0.007), and 71% recommended permanent curriculum incorporation. 100% reported a need to improve personal negotiation skills, and 100% reported increased confidence following the negotiation seminar. Participants were more likely to consider implicit bias (p=0.014) in their own patient encounters after the healthcare disparities seminar.

Conclusions Physician trainees have a need for and may benefit from a leadership curriculum. The innovative education strategy of grassroots seminars may allow for effective delivery and incorporation of intended lessons thereby meeting the needs of all stakeholders.

Authors/Disclosures
Zahari Tchopev, MD (Brooke Army Medical Center Department of Neurology) PRESENTER	Dr. Tchopev has nothing to disclose.
Alexis E. Nelson, MD	Dr. Nelson has nothing to disclose.