You Want to be a Surgical Leader? Consider Training Elsewhere - An Observation of How Training Background May Impact Leadership Selection

Abstract

Objective: The significance of thought differences has always held importance in medicine, but it could be considered as increasingly acknowledged and valued to a greater extent in recent times as more emphasis is placed on diversity, equity, and inclusion. These unique perspectives have been examined according to race, gender, and ethnicity, but there is limited published data examining the prevalence of leadership roles within surgical departments in terms of training background. Our main objective is to identify trends in surgical leaders' education, and emphasize training diversity in surgical leadership.

Design: A descriptive study of the training background of all surgical academic leaders.

Setting: This internet search was performed at a tertiary care, academic medical center.

Participants: Academic chairpersons, division directors, and program directors.

Results: 124 programs had pertinent information available. There was a mean of 7.6 leaders per institute examined: total 939 positions (119 chairs, 704 division directors, 116 program directors). 90/119 (76%) of the Chairs led at institutions outside of the places they completed their training. 4/119 (3%) did all their training at the same institution they chaired. 25/119 (21%) completed at least some but not all their training there, and later rose to the role of Chair. Among division directors, 217/704 (31%) did some training at that institution, and program directors were significantly more likely to have completed some training at their current institute (53/116, 46%; p = 0.001). There were no statistically significant differences when examined geographically. Women made up 18% of the leaders and were significantly more likely to lead as program director rather than a chair or division director (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: A majority of surgery chairs hold positions at institutions where they did not complete their medical training. This suggests that outside perspective could be a contributing factor when searching for this position.

Keywords: chairs; diversity; leadership; program directors; surgical training; women leadership.