Leadership training in dermatology: a narrative review

Abstract

Effective leadership is imperative for dermatologists and clinically has been shown to improve team efficacy, patient outcomes, and staff engagement, as well as reduce physician burnout and medical errors. Dermatologists are expected to exercise leadership in a variety of contexts during their professional careers, but despite the demonstrated benefit of effective leadership on improving clinical outcomes and reducing burnout, there is a lack of formal leadership training in residency programs, especially in the field of dermatology. The purpose of this review is to elucidate the current understanding of effective leadership for dermatologists, with a focus on leadership models and select strategies that dermatologists may implement in their daily practice to become more efficacious leaders. This review also seeks to provide a summary of existing opportunities for leadership in the field of dermatology. A narrative review was performed in 2022 examining leadership models as determined by the top results in PubMed with search term "Leadership Models". These models were then related to the field of dermatology. In addition, existing leadership opportunities, as determined through PubMed and Google searches, were reviewed and summarized. There are several medical and non-medical leadership models that can be applied to the field of dermatology. There are many opportunities to gain leadership experience for dermatologists and dermatologists in training; however, there is still a demonstrated need for more opportunities. Through the application of basic leadership principles, dermatologists will experience improved satisfaction and enhanced outcomes.