Who is it for?

The Medical Leadership Competency Framework applies to all medical students, qualified doctors and dental surgeons. The way a doctor demonstrates competence and ability will vary according to the career path chosen and their level of experience and training.  However, all competences should be capable of being achieved at all career stages, though in different contexts.

Three main career stages have been identified and used throughout the MLCF:

Stage 1: up to the end of undergraduate training

Stage 2: up to the end of postgraduate training

Stage 3: up to five years or equivalent continuing practice

At undergraduate stage (medical school) all medical students will be expected to achieve learning outcomes as defined by the medical school curriculum (based on the General Medical Council's Tomorrow's Doctors).  Those outcomes concerned with The Doctor as a Professional in particular are relevant to the competences within the MLCF.

During their medical school training students will have access to relevant learning opportunities within a variety of situations including:

• peer interaction
• group learning
• clinical placements
• activities and responsibilities within the university
• involvement with charities, social groups and organisations.

All these situations can provide a medical student with the opportunity to develop experience of leadership, to develop their personal styles and abilities, and to understand how effective leadership will have an impact on the system and benefit patients as they move from learner to practitioner on graduating.

The project has developed a  Guidance for Undergraduate Medical Education - Integrating the MLCF (1.44 MB) to assist Medical Schools integrate the competences into their curricula.

At postgraduate stage the MLCF applies to all doctors in training and practice.  That is, during foundation years and to those:

• in specialty training (specialty curriculum approved by the General Medical Council (GMC) as of 1st April 2010, and formerly by the Postgraduate Medical Education Training Board(PMETB))

and

• in non-specialist training posts (postgraduate deanery and service responsibility).

As they train further and consolidate their skills and knowledge in everyday practice, doctors in training are very often the key medical person relating to patients and other staff, and are the ones who are experiencing how day-to-day healthcare works in action.

They are uniquely placed:

• to develop experience in management and leadership through relationships with other people, departments and ways of working

and

• to understand how the patient experiences healthcare, and how the processes and systems of delivering care can be improved.

Specific activities such as clinical audit and research also offer the opportunity to learn management and leadership skills. With all this comes the need to understand how their speciality and focus of care contributes to the wider healthcare system.

The project has developed a  Medical Leadership Curriculum to assist Medical Royal Colleges integrate the competences into their curricula.

Continuing practice describes the stage of post specialist certification, or the time during the first years of practice after training.  The MLCF applies to all consultants and general practitioners.  It also applies to doctors who do not have specialist or generalist registration but who work as staff or associate specialist grade or as trust doctors in non career grade posts in hospitals.

The ending of the formal training period brings with it roles and responsibilities within the team delivering patient care, as well as in the wider healthcare system.  Doctors need an understanding of the need for each area to play its part. Experienced doctors develop their abilities in leadership within their departments and practices and by working with colleagues in other settings and on projects. Their familiarity with their specific focus of care enables them to work outside their immediate setting and to look further at ways to improve the experience of healthcare for patients and colleagues. As established members of staff or as partners, they are able to develop further their leadership abilities by actively contributing to the running of the organisation and to the way care is provided generally.

The following diagrams illustrate the expectations of depth and the extent to which competences can be demonstrated at different career stages.  That is, the darker the shading, the greater the depth and extent of competence.  All domains and elements of the MLCF apply to all medical students, doctors in training, and Consultants and GPs.  However, the application of and opportunity to demonstrate the competences in the MLCF will differ according to the career stage of the doctor and the type of role they fulfil.  The context in which competence can be achieved will become more complex and demanding with career progression.

Undergraduate

Postgraduate

Continuing Practice