Investigating the levels of management and leadership development among medical doctors

Private medical practice, as a division of primary healthcare, involves profitable medical practices and businesses owned and run by qualified medical practitioners that provide a healthcare service to their community. It is thus inevitable that the function of management forms a vital part of the medical practitioner’s responsibilities and entails daily, weekly and monthly duties such as training and managing staff members, general administration, ordering medical supplies, liaising with patients, clients and suppliers, generating accurate invoices, paying bills, wages and salaries, handling debtors and creditors; as well as many other tasks aimed at ensuring that his/her medical practice runs smoothly and cost effectively while continuing to focus on growing its patient/client base and income generating capabilities. Therefore, competent and effective management and leadership skills are essential to the success of a private medical practice and healthcare department at large, that will be able to provide its community with a healthcare service marked by excellence; contributing not only to its community’s employment rate and economy, but also to the general well being of its members. The treatise has identified that, although the medical industry in South Africa has invested heavily in the academic, clinical and practical development and training of medical practitioners and healthcare personnel in the past, many gaps exist in adequately equipping medical practitioners and other healthcare professionals with leadership skills aimed at the successful management of their private practices, healthcare departments and hospitals at large. With a view to bridge these gaps, it has been the main purpose of this study to identify the primary and specific factors that contribute to the lack of leadership and management development among medical practitioners in private practice. The empirical study included data collected via the distribution of a self-administered online survey among 100 medical practitioners in private practice and in management positions in the Western Cape area. The findings generated by the survey indicate that the level of management and leadership development among medical doctors in private practice in western cape is low mainly due to the current academic curriculum for medical doctors, lack of relevant, contemporary information regarding effective management and leadership development training for medical practitioners, lack of clinical leadership development and training, lack of suitable, available leadership and management mentoring/coaching for medical practitioners, as well as the medical profession’s neglect of conveying and imprinting the importance of the need for medical practitioners’ to acquire and become equipped with these skills. In light of these findings, a framework for management and leadership skills development among medical practitioners was constructed for consideration by policy makers, accompanied by recommendations aimed at actioning improvements that will positively impact the healthcare industry at large