Question

Within a group practice or a private practice, why are many physicians' poor leaders and what suggestion could be provided to improve this difficulty?

Answer 1

Lack of leadership quality among physicians and suggestions to improve it:

A medical Doctor trained in human medicine is called a Physician. Most of the physicians are expert in their area of internal medicine involving diagnosis and treatment of the diseases. But many of them are poor leaders. Within a group practice or private practice, many physicians display a lack of leadership skills.

Lack of leadership skills among most physicians may be due  to the lack of training in management and administration in their curriculum. They study extensively, anatomy and physiology of the human body, microbioogy, pathology, pharmacology, medicine , surgery and getting trained in diagnosing and treating the diseases within 7 years of their course. After that they directly enter into their practice without an adequate training in leadership or in management. Gradually due to the stressful environment of hospital, they are shaped into a dysfunctional leaders, who knows to give only ' orders' . This dysfunctional leadership makes them poor leaders in private as well as group practice.

Suggestions to improve leadership quality among physicians:

Leadership is the capacity of  some one to lead others. Suggestions to improve the leadership qualities in physicians are:

* Empowering education for physician leaders: lack of leadership skills in physician leader , make the team vulnerable to burn out process. Physician leaders should get empowerment through education as leaders.

* Participate in leadership training programme: Physician should participate in leadership training programme, that can remind them qualities and skills of effective leaders.

* Dyad model in institutions: In this model the physician and a buisiness executive are paired as co leaders, so that physician can learn on ' how to run a unit', manage the staff or a region, buisiness strategies. They suppose to report each other.

* Performance review by Healthcare organisations: Health care Organizations should give a periodic performance review to physicians, so that they can get an idea about their area of deficit, especially related to communication to patients and other health care workers. They can improve their area of deficit by attending a communication or management skill development programme and by practicing the newly acquired skills.

* Assigning additional responsibility within management area: Health care Organization can assign additional responsibility to individual physicians, such as a particular group leader, Managing director of a programme etc. Initially the post of simple tasks and then moderate, then complex task . Through this strategy, physicians can improve their leadership skills.

* Books on leadership: Encourage the physicians to read famous books on leadership ( 'The leadership challenge ', 'The five disfunctions of a team' etc).