title: Exploring and understanding academic leadership in family medicine.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore how family physicians understand the concept of academic leadership.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto in Ontario.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty family physician academic leaders.
  
  
  METHODS
  Focus groups and interviews were conducted with family physicians from a large multisite urban university who were identified by peers as academic leaders at various career stages. Transcripts from the focus groups and interviews were anonymized and themes were analyzed and negotiated among 3 researchers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants identified qualities of leadership among academic leaders that align with those identified in the current literature. Despite being identified by others as academic leaders, participants were reluctant to self-identify as such. Participants believed they had taken on early leadership roles by default rather than through planned career development.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study affirms the need to define academic leadership explicitly, advance a culture that supports it, and nurture leaders at all levels with a variety of strategies.
authors.affiliation: University of Toronto, Family and Community Medicine, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Ivy
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Oandasan
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hammond Mobilio
authors.forename: Lesley
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gotlib Conn
authors.forename: Kymm
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Feldman
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rouleau
authors.forename: Leslie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sorensen
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers / Q000458:organization & administration*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005180:Faculty, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005194:Family Practice / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007857:Leadership; D008297:Male; D009864:Ontario; D015279:Organizational Culture; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000523:psychology*