In the recent studies and large-scale radical change efforts to improve patient safety culture, leadership emerged as the most substantial influential factor in facilitating an organizational culture. Effective leaders care for and support their staffs to improve job satisfaction, loyalty, and productivity, which ultimately promote high-quality care increasing patients’ experience and overall healthcare service satisfaction. In this review paper, themes like leadership in organizational culture, leadership styles, and leadership qualities were analyzed to assess the effectiveness of medical leadership in a healthcare organization where professionals at the bottom often have more significant influence in decision-making than their managers. As most literature evaluated the impact of leadership development programs at personal levels, our study has addressed the paucity of studies that assess the mechanisms by which leadership programs stimulate learning and change at organizational-level outcomes. We found that good medical leadership in an organizational culture includes effective human resources and staff management, strong senior management support, a learning environment, time for improvement efforts, and psychological safety. Transformational leadership style also showed a positive association with job satisfaction, motivation, and teamwork. Besides, a leader’s well-being, pro-activeness, and willingness to learn are also essential factors. Our review advocates for leadership development programs in the medical curricula to morph leadership among medical students, graduates, and continuing physicians in a dynamic and interactive influence process.
Cite this paper
Sze, G. W. , Yuin, Y. S. , Durganaudu, H. , Pillai, N. , Yap, C. G. and Jahan, N. K. (2021). Narrative Review of Leadership Development Programs among Medical Professionals. Open Access Library Journal, 8, e7555. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1107555.
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