Building leadership capacity in medical education: developing the potential of course coordinators

Abstract

The School of Medicine at the University of Southampton has undergone a process of consultation and staff development aimed at developing the leadership role of course coordinators. The paper reports on the negotiation of a generic framework of tasks and the development of a successful leadership training programme for course coordinators. The authors recommend a complex adaptive style of leadership based on whole systems theory and argue that leadership training for course coordinators is vital to the success of undergraduate medical programmes.