Leadership and professional development

With the right training and development, physicians can become strong, effective leaders who help build a culture of success within their own medical organizations and contribute to transformative change at the health system level.

Physician supervisors also need well-developed leadership skills to promote and support the health and wellness of the physicians they manage.

How to build stronger leadership skills

To help physicians become better prepared for leadership roles so they can effectively support their colleagues and maintain a healthy work environment, the Physician Leadership Institute offers a variety of courses on non-clinical skills.

A white paper by the Canadian Society of Physician Leaders provides further guidance on how physicians can individually and collectively help transform health care at the system level. It suggests the following:

• Explore and challenge the personal mental models and world views that restrict you from engaging in the health care system and realizing your potential as a leader.
• Be willing to participate in and champion colleagues’ efforts to understand the reform agenda within your provincial health care system ad the implications for your own area of responsibility.
• Take advantage of opportunities provided by colleagues, fellow professionals, health organizations, regions and governments to participate in reform initiatives, especially those related to patient safety and quality improvement. 
• Take steps to negotiate appropriate working conditions for physicians in a reformed health care system.
• Become an active champion for physician engagement and physician leadership development.

Leadership needs to happen at all career levels.

That’s why we offer medical students, residents and physicians in their first five years of practice an opportunity to connect with each other and develop their leadership skills through the CMA Ambassador Program.