Perspectives on leadership for medical educators: a qualitative study of leadership qualities identified by US medical school deans

Introduction Leaders in medical education face unique challenges and carry the immense responsibility of training the next generation of healthcare professionals. Highly effective leaders are critical in medical education, and degree programmes in health professions education aim to produce these needed academic leaders. This study aims to identify the leadership qualities deemed important by established leaders in medical education to guide the development of health professions education leadership curricula.Methods From September 2023 to March 2024, the authors conducted semistructured interviews with 23 US medical school deans or recommended members of their staff (eg, Associate Dean for Medical Education) regarding the leadership qualities they deemed important for leading in medical education. The authors then applied reflexive thematic analysis to the interview transcripts to identify themes representing leadership qualities.Results Transcript analysis demonstrated 12 themes that represent leadership qualities thought to be essential in medical education. These themes included a leader who is driven by values, humble, resilient, emotionally intelligent, puts people first, fosters psychological safety, is collaborative, communicates effectively, makes decisions, acts strategically, drives innovation and is adaptable.Conclusion This study identified twelve key leadership qualities that US medical school deans perceive as essential for leadership in medical education. These qualities can be organised into personal, interpersonal and system-level qualities, but they are interconnected in practice with qualities being relevant on multiple levels. These findings align with several healthcare leadership models but emphasise resilience and adaptability more distinctly, highlighting unique challenges in medical education. These insights could help refine existing leadership theories and frameworks within the context of medical education and enhance leadership development programmes in medical education and potentially related fields.