Developing Leadership and Problem Solving Skills in Medical School

Dealing with the stresses of medical school is, all by it's lonesome, a full time job. Never in your life will you likely be managing more stresses, pressures, and responsibilities, and never will more be demanded of your time. The instinct for meaning is to simply put your head down and plough on through, choosing the path of least resistance. It's an easier haul; much more appealing than looking at the top of the heap and adding the additional burden of being a leader. Yet those wisdom seekers amongst the medical school masses know that these are the days to excel and exceed expectations. If you learn to develop your leadership and problem-solving skills in the midst of these challenging days, they’ll grow like instincts inside of you, and be at your disposal your entire life.

As you make your way through medical school, pay close attention, because the number of chances to apply your leadership will astound. Take every drama, every problem large and small, and see it as an opportunity. Be the student in class that actively listens, and when the professor asks for a volunteer, don’t hesitate to take the reins. There’s a distinct different between making your way through school and making it a monumental experience. The teachers who have dedicated their careers to educating you can only do so much – the rest is in your hands. When a problem arises in the lab or classroom, consider various solutions, instead of ducking down out of avoidance. great leader asks questions – even if he/she thinks the answer might be obvious. Chances are, if you don’t know something, others will be harboring the same confusions. Have the initiative to pipe up and find the answers, and you’ll be doing your peers a favor, too.

By contrast, it's just as useful to let others jump to the front of the pack as well. If you're a gung-ho type, always the first to volunteer and enforce your methodologies on others, employ the art of active listening, and sit back to allow someone else the lead. You can learn just as much in a listening, problem-solving mode as you can by rising to the top. Great leaders are great listeners, too - if you're not processing the information around you, and learning from your peers, you're missing so much of what college can offer. In a nursing or medical career, egos clash all the time, and this is an issue you'll simply have to learn to handle gracefully. If you find yourself in the lab or engrossed in a group-oriented project and individual you have distaste for volunteers to lead, be brave - let them. The absolute best way to become a top-tier nurse or doctor is by observing what you admire and detest in others who lead, and, in tandem, can recognize the same traits in yourself.

One of the hardest things a great leader has to learn early is criticism is your friend. As you lead projects in medical school, within lab environments and in academic groups, ask for input and feedback. If a fellow student or professor has an opinion - be it positive or negative - on how you're performing, it's in your best interest to listen carefully, without the urge to get combative and defensive. Whether you're leading a mini-discussion in a classroom and put in charge of a massive undertaking, set the scene immediately that you're open to ideas and specific critique of your leadership by all involved. In the workplace, your patients will most certainly have an opinion of your work - get used to hearing the good and the bad now. This will also allow you the opportunity to begin the difficult task of categorizing your feedback; while some will be invaluable and will truly nail your inadequacies and talents, others will be that dreaded projection, and will bear no direct reflection on you, but the individual giving the feedback. Start to sniff out the difference; it will do volumes in helping you focus on the true issues, and dismiss the catty negativities. Just trust your instincts, and you'll know the difference between what's constructive and what's just plain whining.

In the medical school arena, and in life itself, problem solving and leadership go hand-in-hand. If you accept the notion that leadership involves both rising to the top and falling back to listen and ponder, you're already putting fabulous problem solving skills in action and setting the stage for a rewarding medical career. Both are all about good judgment, a balance of confidence and humility, knowledge and research about your topic, and an altruistic attitude that focuses on the benefit of all involved. It rather sounds like a laundry list of traits that make up a fantastic doctor, no? Now go out there and start leading.

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