Are psychiatrists trained to be leaders in mental health? A survey of early career psychiatrists

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate how early career psychiatrists in 2014 valued the leadership skill education in their training to become psychiatrists. Method: All psychiatrists who gained Fellowship since 2009 after training in New Zealand or Australia were invited to take part in a survey. Results: Respondents considered themselves not adequately prepared for the leadership, management and administrative tasks and roles they have as psychiatrists, with preparedness for management tasks scoring the lowest. They valued as most useful to have opportunity to practice with a leadership role, to be able to observe ‘leaders at work’, to have a supervisor with special interests and skills in leadership and management and to have a formal teaching program on leadership and management. They advised teaching to be given throughout the entire 5 years of the training program by experienced leaders. Conclusions: Leadership skills training in the education of psychiatrists should contain both practical experience with leadership and management roles and formal teaching sessions on leadership and management skills development. Suggestions for improvement of the leadership and management skills education in the training of psychiatrists have been formulated.