Management education for undergraduate doctors: A survey of medical schools

Abstract

Explores the extent to, and ways in which, doctors are prepared for their future role in management through the undergraduate medical curriculum. Surveys the colleges across the UK offering undergraduate medical education using both prospectuses and questionnaires to establish both inclusion of healthcare management/policy in curricula and the subject content offered. Establishes that the majority of colleges offer some teaching of health care management/policy although the areas of study included vary considerably. The emphasis in most institutions appears to be on introducing the structure and organization of the NHS together with decision making in respect of resource allocation often located within a public health programme. This leads to the tentative conclusion that the management education needs of future public health physicians are reasonably well served while those of hospital doctors and general practitioners need further investigation.

A comparison of experiences, competencies and development needs of doctor managers in Kenya and the United Kingdom (UK)

“…While opinions vary, there is a consensus in the UK on the need for a clearer career structure for doctor managers, more targeted training and clearer contracts for doctor managers (Cavenagh and Dewberry, ; Day, ). In the past, training and development of doctors in management has been haphazard in the NHS in UK (Walker and Morgan, , McClelland and Jones , Humphris et al, ; Edmonstone, ), is inadequate in a number of European Countries (Kumpusalo et al, ) and occurs late in a doctor's career (Dopson, ; Ham, ; Paton et al, ). Several organisations have been formed to foster training and development of doctors in leadership and management, such as the Royal Australian College of Medical Administrators (Wood, ), the Faculty of Leadership and Medical Management (formally the British Association of Medical Managers) and the American College of Physician executives.…”