Predictors of leadership styles of medical students : Implications for medical education

Providing effective health care services for a population involves a great deal of team-work among health care workers and leadership of physicians. The primary purpose of this study was to assess the leadership styles of medical students, and to explore factors that may be associated with them. Leadership questionnaires were used to assess leadership styles of 97 sixth-year medical students of the 1995 class at Chulalongkorn University attending the community medicine III program which was designed to introduce basic knowledge and skills in health care management. The baseline leadership styles of the students were more people-oriented than task-oriented. Multivariate analyses revealed that administrative experiences from extracurricular activities and perceived importance of a health administration course were significantly associated with leadership styles. Medical students should be encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities during their medical studies, taking leader positions, in order to develop an optimal leadership style to be effective health team leaders.