Recognising and Developing Leadership Skills in Colleagues and Doctors in Training (PGDiTs) (ES/CS) (SW745)

THE COURSE-a pithy description!

Feedback to HEE South West indicates that Educational Supervisors are looking for ways to understand and improve leadership skills in postgraduate trainees.

Here’s the catch….. You are not likely to improve leadership skills in postgraduate trainees unless at the same time you improve your own leadership understandings and skills. So whilst this course is all about how to facilitate leadership skills in your trainees, along the way you will develop some of your own leadership skills in healthcare.

How will the course be delivered?  This on-line course covers a great deal of ground in one day. It will contain quite a lot of theory and as interactive as on-line teaching permits. The course will contain relevant examples to link theory to educational practice and there will be regular opportunities for comments, questions and discussion during the day. There will be opportunities to go “off piste” if delegates bring up issues that need to be addressed and other delegates are happy to do this.

Mandatory: Associate Dean Secondary Care, or Associate DME, or College/Specialty Tutor, or Dental Educational/Clinical Supervisor, or Deputy Dean, or DME, or Educational/Clinical Supervisor Secondary Care, or HoS, or Public Health Supervisor, or SAS Doctor - Associate Specialist, or SAS Doctor - Specialist, or SAS Doctor - Speciality Doctor, or SAS Doctor - Staff Grade, or SAS Tutor, or TPD Secondary Care

Why should I think about doing this course? If you are interested in developing leadership skills in your trainees, supporting them in bringing about improvements to your educational programme and possibly clinical services in your department, understand how effective leadership functions in complex healthcare systems, how you can access resources for them and yourself that you never realized were available, and discovering this can be fun and interesting, then this might be the course for you.

What will we be covering? Traditional ways of really making a difference through hierarchical top down leadership approaches are no longer proving to be very effective. The course will provide insights to help you appreciate the new skills and knowledge needed to be effective for yourself and for your postgraduate trainees in the future. The course covers topics like a simple useful leadership model, the characteristics of functioning teams, communicating clearly, how to raise difficult issues appropriately, negotiate effectively, how to understand and manage the many stakeholders in healthcare, how to access additional resources and many other topics along the way. Covid has changed much, both positive and negative, and we may get a chance to discuss some of these issues as well.

Will I be bored by management talk?  If you are open minded, like a fast paced course and understand that management and leadership has a set of knowledge, theory and skills that are interesting, and which help you and your trainees at work, and in your social life, then maybe you would like to apply.

Will this help my career?  Management skills are generic, which means if you learn them within an educational environment, then you can employ them in a clinical environment in hospital and primary care. This is likely to lead to other career opportunities outside of medical education. Those interested in an educational career, who develop leadership skills in themselves and others, may well go onto find that these skills are also useful in clinical leadership.

Will this solve all my problems in life? If you are still reading this then you may be interested in making an application to join the course. However, a note of realism is needed! It will definitely not solve all your problems in your life or those of your trainees. You will still be overdrawn, have arguments with your friends, have days when you are short of enthusiasm and interest, but at least you will have understood some of the reasons for this and had a great deal more fun on the way.