Leadership development in health professions.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Despite changing clinical care dynamics, health professions education has been slow in addressing gaps in leadership development as teaching and assessment of clinical care-related knowledge, skills, and attitudes remain central across curricula. While accreditation standards across health professions programs acknowledge the importance of leadership development within curricula, it remains an underrepresented aspect of health professions training. EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY AND SETTING: Given the varied approach to leadership training, we set out to develop a tailored approach to leadership development that integrated the Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education (CAPE) outcomes and was based on self-awareness, skill-building, and application. This pilot included three cohorts of doctor of pharmacy students and measured their knowledge, skills, and self-awareness as they progressed through this year-long program. It also measured leadership competency attainment using a pre- and post-assessment in one cohort. FINDINGS: Participant satisfaction was assessed using session and program evaluations, while self-perception of growth and leadership competency attainment was assessed using a survey that was administered before and after program participation. Participants found the program to be beneficial in meeting stated objectives and in creating a conducive learning environment. Results of the pre- and post-assessment indicated growth in all dimensions of self-perception of knowledge, skills, and self-awareness, as well as attainment of leadership competency personal leadership commitment and leadership knowledge. SUMMARY: Offering co-curricular leadership development programs based on CAPE outcomes and leadership competencies provided students with the opportunity to develop leadership skills and acquire knowledge needed to be effective healthcare leaders.

An analysis of resilience in dental students using the Resilience Scale for Adults.

OBJECTIVES: Resilience is the ability to bounce back or recover from major life stressors. The aim of this study was to investigate resilience in dental students and how it may or may not vary across demographic characteristics such as gender, socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, self-reported health, and parental educational level. METHODS: Data were collected from 151 dental students at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry with an anonymous survey that included the Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA) and various demographic variables. Associations between RSA and variables of interest were assessed using linear models. RESULTS: Dental students demonstrated relatively high levels of resilience. Resilience was significantly associated with gender (with females showing more resilience than males (P = 0.0395)), race (P = 0.0025), overall health (P = 0.0101), and mental health (P < 0.0001). Results from Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) supported a 5-factor solution that explained 82.6% of the variability of resilience in the sample of dental students. The 5 factors were nearly identical to the 5 subscales originally described by the RSA demonstrating validity in this population. Overall health ratings were significantly related to resilience, suggesting that perceived resilience in dental students may protect against negative health outcomes. This study can inform internal and external support systems of dental students as well as institutional programmatic development to better support their educational experiences.