Investing in Queensland's rural medical leaders: Lessons from the Queensland Rural Generalist Program.

Objective: To improve the leadership capacity of existing Queensland Rural Generalists and support the emerging leaders needed to assume future leadership roles.

Design: A customised leadership program for medical Rural Generalists, embedded in professional standards, was developed and delivered during 2016-2018. Pre and post-program and individual module evaluations from two Program cohorts were analysed. Qualitative, semi-structured phone interviews (n = 30) discussing participant views on leadership in a rural context and their Program experience were also conducted.

Setting: The Rural Generalist Leadership for Clinicians Training Program runs over twelve months and includes three residential modules as well as online learning sets.

Participants: Forty-four participants completed the Program and obtained Associate Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators.

Interventions: Development and delivery of the Rural Generalist Leadership for Clinicians Training Program.

Main Outcome Measure(s): Participant's ability to apply Program learning in a rural leadership context. Participant views on leadership in a rural context.

Results: Participants indicated they benefited most from the 'understanding self' and management aspects of the Program such as finance, budgeting, and understanding and navigating broader health system governance. They greatly valued the opportunity to enhance their professional networks and relationships and have since developed a regular forum to assist in the transition from individual leadership development to the development of the broader workforce and organisation.

Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that further attention and investment in medical leadership is warranted to support and enable the Rural Generalist workforce to continue to meet the complex, context-specific needs of the communities within which they deliver vital health services.