Leadership and professionalism curriculum in the Gross Anatomy course.
BACKGROUND
Today's physicians must demonstrate both professionalism and leadership skills in order to succeed in largely team-based healthcare environments. The purpose of this study was to determine if professionalism attributes, leadership style, and leadership style adaptability are associated with academic performance among first-year students early in their medical curriculum.


METHODS
Students were divided into 4-member dissection groups for the duration of the Gross and Developmental Anatomy course. Leadership responsibility was randomly assigned to a team member on a rotating basis every 5 weeks. After each 5-week block, student performance was measured by written and practical examinations, and each student assessed their leader's or their own professionalism attributes and leadership style using validated survey instruments.


RESULTS
Most students demonstrated either a "selling" only (57%) or "participating" only (30%) leadership style with low to moderate leadership adaptability. "Participating" and "delegating" leadership styles have the highest average group written exam scores (89.4%, P <0.008). "Telling" only or "selling" only leaders have the lowest average group exam scores (83.5%, P <0.001). "Selling" and "participating" leaders have significantly lower average group practical exam scores than other styles (81.5%, P <0.007). Positive associations were observed between the written and practical examination scores and the leader's integrity (P = 0.003, P = 0.002) and responsibility (P <0.001, P = 0.037).


CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrates that various situational leadership styles and aspects of professionalism are associated with written and practical examination scores in the Gross and Developmental Anatomy course. Furthermore, it demonstrates that first-year medical students are in need of leadership skill development.
Pawlina
Wojciech
W
Department of Anatomy, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. pawlina.wojciech@mayo.edu
Hromanik
Michael J
MJ
Milanese
Tia R
TR
Dierkhising
Ross
R
Viggiano
Thomas R
TR
Carmichael
Stephen W
SW
D019412:Anatomy, Cross-Sectional / Q000193:education*; D003479:Curriculum / Q000592:standards*; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008297:Male; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013337:Students, Medical