INCREASING FAMILY MEDICINE’S LEADERSHIP CAPACITY

Leadership is defined as “1) the office or position of a leader, 2) [the] capacity to lead, and 3) the act or an instance of leading.”¹ Throughout the history of family medicine, many individuals have served in the office of a leader, and we can cite many examples of leading. As a discipline, however, few programs have been developed to increase our capacity to lead.

“Leadership and advocacy” is the 10th recommendation of the Future of Family Medicine Task Force.² Arguably, it is the most neglected of the 10 recommendations. While much progress has been made toward many of the other goals of this report, the leadership piece has been missing.

Family medicine currently stands at a unique and important crossroads in its history. We have a new Congress and presidential administration who understand the importance of primary care in the health care system. Business and industry have rallied around the concept of the patient-centered medical home as a method for provided effective, cost-efficient health care. Patients want to develop a personal relationship with their physicians. As family physicians, we need to capitalize on these opportunities by expanding our leadership role. Yet, we have neglected the development of new leaders that would help to accomplish this.

To correct this, family medicine organizations are developing leadership programs that will identify and train new family physician leaders. Specifically, the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) has convened a special task force that is creating a leadership development institute.

Members of the STFM leadership development task force include: Terry Steyer, MD, task force chair, Medical University of South Carolina; Jeri Hepworth, PhD, vice-chair, University of Connecticut; Steve Bogdewic, PhD, Indiana University; Marjorie Bowman, MD, MPA, University of Pennsylvania; Dennis Butler, PhD, Medical College of Wisconsin; Amy McGaha, MD, American Academy of Family Physicians; Peter Nalin, MD, Indiana University; Trish Palmer, MD, Pisacano Leadership Foundation; Mark Stephens, MD, MS, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences; and Stephen Wilson, MD, MPH, University of Pittsburgh.

With these members representing the broad spectrum of family medicine, this committee is developing a process to identify potential leaders for our discipline and recruit them to participate in a longitudinal curriculum that will teach leadership skills, both for organizational leadership as well as general leadership concepts. These ideas have just begun to take shape, and we plan to launch the first Leadership Development Institute at our 2010 Annual Spring Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia.

As this program and others begin to develop and take shape, you can play a role in developing new leaders for our discipline. Talk with students and residents about the importance of being a leader in their schools, hospitals, and communities. Identify ways that you can advocate for the needs of your patients. Take advantage of leadership opportunities that present themselves to you. And don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it. Working together, we can ensure that family medicine will redefine leadership and will lead the way to a new health care system that can meet our nation’s needs.

• © 2009 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.