Tomorrow's Leaders, Starting Today: A Pilot Leadership Development Program for Dental Students

Abstract

Effective leadership is vitally important as the dental profession strives to meet current and future challenges. Leadership development programs have been created for mid‐career dental professionals, but the relative lack of such programs for dental students may represent a missed opportunity to cultivate the dental leaders of tomorrow. A pilot leadership development program for dental students is described in this article. A voluntary leadership development program for dental students was offered in 2008 at the Case School of Dental Medicine with support from the Ohio Dental Association Foundation. The program aimed to increase students’ leadership knowledge, improve their leadership skills, and provide inspiration through exposure to leaders who could serve as role models. At the conclusion of the program, students attended the Ohio Dental Association's Leadership Institute event. Forty‐six students attended at least one program session. Thirty students attended all or all but one of the on‐site sessions. Thirty‐three participants responded to a post‐program anonymous online survey. The majority of participants (81 percent) rated the program as very useful or useful and said they would participate in the program again (85 percent). Student attendance at the state dental association's leadership event increased appreciably from previous years. Student participation in the pilot program exceeded expectations. Leadership development programs for dental students are feasible and can benefit students and the dental community.

Career anchors of dentist leaders

“…Even though much leadership research has been undertaken in the nursing and medical professions [e.g. [1][2][3][4][5] there are only a few studies focusing on dentist leaders or leadership in dentistry [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Even fewer studies deal with factors influencing on dentist leaders´ career decisions [6,10,14].…”

Diş Hekimliği Eğitiminde Beceri Kavramı: 21. Yüzyıl Becerileri

“…61 Öğrenciler liderlik programlarında rol model olarak görev almak için istekli olmalarına rağmen, müfredatta bu programlar sınırlıdır. 61,62 Liderlik teorisi ve becerileri preklinik ve klinik uygulamaların yönetilmesinde, Harvard Üniversitesi'ndeki üçüncü sınıf öğrencilerinde olumlu sonuçlar vermiştir. 63 Profesyonel etik ve ahlak eğitimi; diş hekimlerini sosyal ve profesyonel olarak insanlıktan sorumlu yetişkinler yapar.…”

Public health leadership education in North America

“…In the US, the leadership training for health professions students is being developed. 25 Fourth, flexibility should be developed. The curriculum should not be rigid but flexible so that the program can meet varied students' needs.…”