title: Professional development and leadership training opportunities for healthcare professionals.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Formal leadership training is a relatively recent addition to the educational armamentarium of the health care executive. Leadership training opportunities for physicians, surgeons, and scientists have gradually appeared over the past 15 to 20 years, but information about them has been scant, with few comprehensive reviews made available to the community at large. This article describes the major opportunities available to obtain formal and informal leadership training for careers in medical school administration. Programs that are specifically targeted to women are described in detail.
  
  
  METHODS
  Information was obtained from the author's direct knowledge, direct communication with the leadership of each program, and the Web site of each sponsoring organization, when available.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Many opportunities for leadership training are now available to surgeons, with several specifically designed for women. The author strongly encourages surgeons to avail themselves of these opportunities, as both anecdotal information and published data suggest that these programs are highly effective in enhancing leadership careers.
authors.affiliation: Wayne State University School of Medicine, 540 E Canfield, Scott Hall 1206, Detroit, MI 48201, USA. Electronic address: rsonnino@med.wayne.edu.
authors.forename: Roberta E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Sonnino
mesh_terms: D004496:Education, Continuing; D004517:Education, Professional; D005178:Faculty; D005260:Female; D005582:Foundations; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008486:Physician Executives; D012955:Societies, Medical; D014930:Women
keywords: Academic medicine; Executive coaching; Leadership positions; Leadership training; Mentoring programs