The Impact of Clinical Leadership Training on Internal Medicine Residents: A Design-based Quasi-experimental Study

Clinical Leadership in Internal Medicine

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to assess the perceptions of clinical leadership among internal medicine trainees and to examine the impact of a structured clinical leadership training programme on learning outcomes.
Methods: The study was conducted between August 2023 and January 2024 in a tertiary hospital using a design-based research approach. Under this approach, which comprised needs analysis, programme development, implementation, and evaluation, 125 internal medicine residents were included: 63 participated in the 13-hour clinical leadership training programme (training group), while 62 formed the control group. Data were collected using a demographic form, a knowledge test (pre-test/post-test), and the clinical leadership scale (CLS). The chi-square test was used for between-group comparisons, and the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to calculate the effect size. The Bonferroni correction was applied for multiple comparisons.
Results: The CLS demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.96). The highest scores were obtained in the “management of services” and “working with others” sub-dimensions, while the lowest score was recorded in the “designing interventions” sub-dimension. The correct response rate among participants who had received training was significantly higher than among those who had not (61.1% versus 29.2%), corresponding to a 2.09-fold increase (OR = 3.95; 95% CI: 3.22-4.85; p < 0.001).
Conclusion: Clinical leadership training is associated with increased knowledge and awareness among internal medicine residents. These findings support the integration of clinical leadership training programmes into the medical education curriculum.