Leadership in healthcare is essential for improving patient outcomes, enhancing team collaboration, and fostering organizational success. Recent shifts toward interprofessional collaboration highlight the importance of shared leadership, where team members assume leadership roles based on expertise. Despite the growing emphasis on leadership development in health professions education, there remains limited research on the behavioral determinants influencing health profession students’ engagement in leadership and their perceptions of the support needed to succeed. This study investigates: What behavioral determinants influence health profession students’ leadership engagement, and what training and support do they perceive as necessary to foster collaborative leadership in interprofessional teams?Methods/methodology: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 225 health profession students at Qatar University using the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF). The survey assessed behavioral determinants, including self-efficacy, perceived benefits, awareness of opportunities, and perceived barriers. Principal component analysis was employed to identify core determinants, while ordinal regression examined associations between leadership roles and sociodemographic factors. Content analysis explored students’ perceptions of training and support needs.Results: Four key behavioral determinants were identified: intention and self-efficacy, perceived benefits and outcomes, awareness of opportunities, and perceived barriers. Students with current or prior leadership roles demonstrated higher self-efficacy and awareness. However, perceived barriers such as time constraints and inadequate training were significant challenges. More than half of the participants reported no formal leadership training, indicating a gap in structured support systems.Conclusions, implications, and curiosities: The findings emphasize the need for structured leadership programs and initiatives such as the IPE Student Association to promote collaborative leadership skills in interprofessional settings. By addressing key behavioral determinants and fostering shared leadership, health professions education can better prepare students to engage effectively in interprofessional teams. Insights from this study contribute to advancing collaborative leadership for improved health outcomes.

Learning Objectives

Identify the key behavioral determinants influencing leadership engagement among health profession students.
Analyze the role of structured leadership programs and interprofessional education initiatives in fostering collaborative leadership and shared responsibility in interprofessional teams.

References

El-Awaisi, A., AlMukdad, S., & Jaam, M. (2022). Opportunities and Challenges with Student Leadership in IPE: A Middle Eastern Perspective. In In D. Joosten-Hagye, & H. Khalili (Eds.), Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice: International Approaches at the Micro, Meso, and Macro Levels (pp. 340-356). Cognella Academic Publishing.
Hoffman, S. J., Rosenfield, D., Gilbert, J. H. V., & Oandasan, I. F. (2008). Student leadership in interprofessional education: benefits, challenges and implications for educators, researchers and policymakers. Medical Education, 42(7), 654-661. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2923.2008.03042.x
Matsas, B., Goralnick, E., Bass, M., Barnett, E., Nagle, B., & Sullivan, E. (9000). Leadership Development in U.S. Undergraduate Medical Education: A Scoping Review of Curricular Content and Competency Frameworks. Academic Medicine.

Room:

St. Nicholas A

Floor: Hilton Second Floor