Search results

There is increasing recognition of the importance of incorporating medical leadership training into undergraduate medical curricula and this is now advocated by the General Medical Council (GMC) and supported through the development of the Undergraduate Medical Leadership Competency Framework (MLCF). However to date, few medical schools have done so in a systematic way and training/experience in medical leadership at undergraduate level is sporadic and often based on local enthusiasm. The purpose of this paper is to outline a theoretical curriculum to stimulate and support medical leadership development at undergraduate level.

This study describes a theoretical framework for incorporation of medical leadership training into undergraduate curricula using a spiral curriculum approach, linked to competences outlined in the Undergraduate Medical Leadership Competency Framework. The curriculum includes core training in medical leadership for all students within each year group with additional tiers of learning for students with a particular interest.

This curriculum includes theoretical and practical learning opportunities and it is designed to be deliverable within the existing teaching and National Health Service (NHS) structures. The engagement with local NHS organisations offers opportunities to broaden the university teaching faculty and also to streamline medical leadership development across undergraduate and postgraduate medical education.

This theoretical curriculum is generic and therefore adaptable to a variety of undergraduate medical courses. The combination of theoretical and practical learning opportunities within a leadership spiral curriculum is a novel and systematic approach to undergraduate medical leadership development.

Various measures exist to determine the quality, however defined, of records in a database or catalogue but there has been less work in developing quality measures for catalogues or databases. UKOLN has carried out work on record quality and catalogue/database performance measurement since 1980. Recently UKOLN has extended its work on the currency of records in the BNB files on the British Library database to a number of other sources of bibliographic records. The results of the Multi‐Source Currency survey presented here have highlighted a number of issues relating to the bibliographic record coverage of the UK imprint.

A unique data set, recording a representative sample of the acquisitions of public and academic libraries in the UK between 1980 and 1998, has been analysed for evidence of trends in acquisitions. Examination of acquisition date relative to publication date revealed public libraries buying little older material, and academic libraries increasing purchases of older titles. Paperback purchase by public libraries has risen, but remained more stable in academic libraries. Public library purchasing reflects current public interest in practical and hobby subjects, but in other areas levels of purchase are at variance with statistics of use. Academic library purchase is dominated by social science material, disproportionate to student numbers. Purchase price analysis suggests a trend to reliance on interlending to satisfy demand for more expensive titles. The findings raise questions about current acquisitions practice and the influence of publishers and suppliers; some further areas for work are identified.

To understand ageing well, one needs to study not only those who are ageing but also the places within and with which people are ageing. In the past, much ageing‐well research has been focused on ensuring individuals have the “right” resources and are engaged in the “best” types of activities. However, recent theorizing has prompted the study of ageing well as a process of making sense of self amid later‐life changes. Building on Rowles' attachment‐to‐place work, the purpose of this paper is to consider how the “thick concreteness” of place influences later‐life meaning making.

This is a theoretical paper on ageing.

The paper draws on Casey's phenomenological conceptualization of places as imprinting themselves on bodies and selves, much as humans shape the places they inhabit. Data from interviews with older rural women in western Canada illustrates how this conceptualization can enhance understanding of ageing well relative to place as a physical, socio‐cultural and temporal phenomenon. In a place that has been depicted as inhospitable, participants have chosen to stay even as practically invisible kin and community “keepers” on the “frontier”.

This original paper suggests that to age well is to age locally and to make sense not only for self about self and one's own ageing but also for ageing in mutually compatible ways in that place.

States that since 1980, UKOLN has been carrying out a survey to monitor the availability of bibliographic records in the BNB files on the British Library automated information service (Blaise). Work on the ordering stage sample is now to be extended by investigating the availability of records from other sources of bibliographic records. Looks at the survey and the new sources to be included in the extended survey. Divides the participant sources (BNB, BDS, Book Data, J. Whitaker & Sons, BLCMP, CURL, LASER, OCLC and SLS (Information Systems) Ltd into two groups and describes the survey methodology and sample structure. Presents a set of source profiles which have been prepared as background material to accompany the results for each source since straight comparisons would not be advisable, given the differences in objectives and set‐up of the sources. Gives some comparisons of the features of different sources.

The purpose of this study was to determine the predominant leadership styles used by medical leaders and factors influencing leadership style use. Clinician leadership is important in healthcare delivery and service development. The use of different leadership styles in different contexts can influence individual and organisational effectiveness.

A mixed methods approach was used, combining a questionnaire distributed electronically to 224 medical leaders in acute hospital trusts with in-depth “critical incident” interviews with six medical leaders. Questionnaire responses were analysed quantitatively to determine, first, the overall frequency of use of six predefined leadership styles and, second, individual leadership style based on a consultative/decision-making paradigm. Interviews were analysed thematically using both a confirmatory approach with predefined leadership styles as themes, and also an inductive grounded theory approach exploring influencing factors.

Leaders used a range of styles, the predominant styles being democratic, affiliative and authoritative. Although leaders varied in their decision-making authority and consultative tendency, virtually all leaders showed evidence of active leadership. Organisational culture, context, individual propensity and “style history” emerged during the inductive analysis as important factors in determining use of leadership styles by medical leaders.

The outcomes of this evaluation are useful for leadership development at the level of the individual, organisation and wider National Health Service (NHS).

This study adds to the very limited evidence base on patterns of leadership style use in medical leadership and reports a novel conceptual framework of factors influencing leadership style use by medical leaders.