Departmental Leadership in a Post-Pandemic World

This chapter explores some of the specific departmental leadership issues that have emerged as universities around the world have struggled to adapt to restrictions imposed by governments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapter argues that for academic departments to succeed and flourish in a post-pandemic world, there needs to be a major reconceptualization of what we mean by academic leadership at the department level. Consequently, a new model of academic leadership is proposed, one which is based on social and relational models of leadership practice, focused on a more individualized approach to leadership development than is currently the case, and which recognizes the crucial role that all academics must play in ensuring the future success of their departments.

Policy Brief: Departmental Policies to Improve Mentorship for Graduate Students

The relationship between an advisor and student is one of the most important factors in predicting graduate student outcomes, yet the vast majority of faculty never participate in formal mentorship training. Furthermore, few mechanisms of accountability exist to assess the quality of mentorship that graduate students receive. Departmental leadership must take responsibility for graduate student success by enacting policies and structures to ensure all students receive effective and equitable mentorship. I recommend that departments reward effective mentorship in performance evaluations and hiring, tenure, and promotion decisions. Providing incentives to develop mentorship competencies will catalyze faculty adoption of recommended best practices.

Graduate Medical Education in Otolaryngology: Making Dollars and Sense of Reform

Graduate medical education (GME) is funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services through both direct and indirect payments. In recent years, stakeholders have raised concerns about the growth of spending on GME and distribution of payment among hospitals. Key stakeholders have proposed reforms to reduce GME funding such as adjustments to statutory payment formulas and absolute caps on annual payments per resident. Otolaryngology departmental leadership should understand the potential effects of proposed reforms, which could have significant implications for the short-term financial performance and the long-term specialty workforce. Although some hospitals and departments may elect to reduce resident salaries or eliminate positions in the face of GME funding cuts, this approach overlooks the substantial Medicare revenue contributed by resident care and high cost of alternative labor sources. Commitment to resident training is necessary to align both the margin and mission of otolaryngology departments and their sponsoring hospitals.

Influence of leadership skills on effectiveness of departmental leadership in Mogotio Sub County hospitals in Kenya

Previous work in Kenyan public hospitals has revealed leadership gaps and poor communication between senior administration and lower cadres as an impediment to achieving better practice. Management training for senior health professionals has been recognized as a priority and is now being provided. The research study explored the influence of leadership skills on effective departmental leadership in Mogotio Sub County. The study used descriptive designs and targeted 32 hospitals consisting of 185 managerial staff in Mogotio Sub County. The stratified random sampling method was used to generate a sample of 126 respondents. Data was collected from this sample using questionnaires and analyzed descriptively and inferentially with the use of SPSS version 24. The correlation analysis determined there is a positive and statistically significant association between leadership skills and effective departmental leadership (r=756, p=.000). This verdict was reinforced by the linear regression results (β=.286, p=.001). The study concludes that leadership skill greatly helps improve effective departmental leadership in the public health sector. The study recommends that hospitals ought to emphasize mentoring leaders in the clinical setup in order to improve the effectiveness of leadership at the departmental level. There is a need to inculcate leadership training into the hospitals’ culture.

Funds flow in academic neurology

Funds flow arrangements define the financial relationships between departments, medical centers, and university entities within a coordinated academic health system. Although these funds flow frameworks differ, common themes emerge including those that are unique in their influence on academic departments of neurology. Here, we review various funds flow models and their application. Four typical models are described, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each for neurology, keeping in mind that most academic health systems use a hybrid model. Several considerations are important when neurology departmental leadership participates in crafting or revising of these funds flow agreements, including choice of benchmarking targets, planning and funding for future growth, demonstrating value, and supporting nonclinical missions including education and research. The American Academy of Neurology Academic Initiative aims to continue to help academic departments nationally understand these issues and define funds flow arrangements that incorporate the unique characteristics of our specialty and allow us to provide outstanding care for patients while supporting the broad missions of neurology departments.

When perception is reality: Resident perception of faculty gender parity in a university-based internal medicine residency program

Introduction Although women have entered medical school and internal medicine residency programs in significant numbers for decades, women faculty remain underrepresented in senior and departmental leadership roles. How residents perceive this gender disparity is unknown. We sought to assess resident perception of gender parity among departmental leadership and teaching faculty in our internal medicine department, and to determine the actual gender distribution of those faculty roles. Methods An anonymous cross-sectional survey was distributed to evaluate resident perception of gender representation of various faculty roles. Using conference schedules, resident evaluations, and our department website, we determined the actual representation of women faculty in department leadership roles, and in clinical and educational activities. Results 88 of 164 residents (54%) responded. Women residents were less likely than men to perceive that women faculty were equally represented in department leadership (45% men agreed vs. 13% women, p < 0.05), clinical teaching roles (55% men agreed vs. 28% women, p < 0.05), or facilitating educational conferences (45% men agreed vs. 28% women, p = 0.074). In 2017, the internal medicine department at our institution comprised 815 faculty members, 473 men (58%) and 342 women (42%). At that time, women faculty held 5% of senior departmental leadership positions and 21% of educational leadership positions. During the year preceding survey distribution, women faculty attended on internal medicine inpatient wards for 33% of the total number of weeks, staffed 20% of morning reports, and facilitated 28% of noon conferences. Discussion Women residents in our internal medicine training program perceived a gender disparity among faculty in leadership and educational positions to a greater extent than male residents. The perception of women trainees was accurate. In addition to disproportionate underrepresentation in leadership positions, women faculty were underrepresented in prominent educational positions, including attending on inpatient services and serving as discussants at educational conferences.