OUTDOOR LEADERSHIP

Outdoor Leadership

Abstract

Leadership and teamwork are important aspects of personal and professional development (PPD) to be inculcated within medical students. PPD module had been included throughout the five-year period to achieve most of the eleven programme outcomes of UKM medical programme. As a part of the teaching-learning method (TLM) for PPD, three outdoor camps are scheduled for the medical students with main emphasis on teamwork and leadership. To determine the final year students' perception on the achievement of UKM Medical Doctor (MD) programme outcomes, two self-assessment surveys were conducted. 222 students answered the first self-assessment survey in June 2009 before they attended the third camp in their final year. The Questionnaire contained eleven programme learning outcomes including learning outcomes 3 and 4 which cover teamwork and leadership aspects. The student's perceptions on whether they have achieved the learning outcomes were rated on five-point Likert scale. Six months later, 177 students responded to the second survey. Majority of the students had either agreed or strongly agreed that they have achieved both programme learning outcomes before the camp. The percentages further increased after the camp. The outdoor camps are beneficial as experiential learning activities for teamwork and leadership among medical students.

Table of Content

Introduction4

Literature Review5

Outdoor Leadership5

Leadership Preparation7

Methodology9

Results10

Discussion11

Conclusion13

References14

Outdoor Leadership

Introduction

As we venture into the 21st century, the health care delivery system is becoming more complex than before and also rapidly changing. The patients are more educated and more scrutinizing. A doctor has to be a member or often a leader of many teams that work together in order to deliver a high quality and effective care (Weaver, 2001, 868). To address this need, recommendations have been made internationally to inculcate leadership and teamwork in medical students training (Skochelak 2010). In relation to this, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) undergraduate medical programme has introduced the integrated medical curriculum in 2005. Personal and professional development (PPD) module had been included throughout the five-year period, to achieve most of the eleven programme outcomes. As a part of the teaching-learning method (TLM) for PPD, especially for teamwork and leadership, three outdoor camps were scheduled for the medical students throughout the five-year program.

The duration for each camp was four days and three nights.

The first camp was conducted during the first week of the year one (early clinical phase), the second camp at the beginning of year three (advanced clinical phase) and the third one during the early part of the final year (senior clerkship). The facilitators of the camps were all medical lecturers who went through training workshop a few weeks prior to the camp. The camps were jointly organized with the Division of University Students and Adolescents of the National Civic Bureau of the Malaysian Prime Minister's Department. The logistic tasks were mainly managed by the bureau. In all the camps, the activities emphasised on the teamwork and leadership aspects. The activities include small group tasks, jungle trekking and medical explorace. The students were divided into twenty groups and each group was facilitated by two ...