EM Leaders: Leading Self

Welcome to this first weekly post for EM Leader trainees. We will be starting with Module Two as Module One was originally delivered face-to-face, but we will try to add those resources later.

Module Two: Leading Self

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine recognises that much of our role as Emergency Medicine Physicians involves leadership. It has therefore worked with the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management to define what Leadership Skill Set we, as Emergency Physicians, need to ensure our patients receive excellent clinical care, our staff flourish and our systems innovate and improve. RCEM defines these skills in the EM Leaders Framework – a syllabus for personal, professional and team leadership to improve patient care.

The Framework complements the new RCEM 2021 Curriculum, which has several speciality learning outcomes around leadership. This weekly post aims to introduce trainees to some of these leadership concepts in easily digestible bitesize chunks. We’ll start with the theme of ‘Leading Self’.

So, what is Leadership?

Leadership is a word that gets used a lot, but, like love, it can be difficult to define. Is there a difference between a leader and someone showing leadership? What leadership skills do you feel you already possess? What skills do you value in others? What would you like to achieve during your leadership journey?

Have a look at this short video to see what these people understand by the term leadership:

EM Leaders Framework reference: (3.5) Developing excellence within your team: Identifying context to become an EM Leader.

Many thanks for your time and attention. Please complete the short survey below which we will be sending out at the beginning and end of each module to see if these quick teaching topics have been beneficial.

Queries, questions and comments are always gratefully received! Please send feedback to: kate.russ@uhl-tr.nhs.uk

HEEM EM Leaders Team: Kate Russ, Liz Saunders, Frank Coffey, Venkat Kotamraju