The Impact of a Short Online Medical Leadership Competencies Framework (MLCF)-based Leadership Training Program on Leadership Competencies Development of Healthcare Students and Junior Professionals: A Pre-Post Study.

Authors

  • Ahmad Rjoub International Medical Education Trust-2000, Ramallah, Palestine.
  • Zainah Amjad Issa Faculty of Medicine, Arab American University of Palestine, Ramallah, Palestine.
  • Asala Khalil Rezeq Faculty of Medicine, Arab American University of Palestine, Ramallah, Palestine.
  • Zeina Daoud Salhi Faculty of Medicine, Arab American University of Palestine, Ramallah, Palestine.
  • Fadi Zaben Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine.
  • Malik Zaben Faculty of Medicine, Arab American University of Palestine, Ramallah, Palestine.

Keywords:

Competencies, Curriculum, Healthcare, Leadership, Online, Training

Abstract

Background: Leadership competencies are crucial for the students of medical, nursing, and other health disciplines due to their prospective roles in decision-making, teamwork, communication, and health crisis management. However, the contribution of the formal teaching sessions in health professions curricula to leadership and communication skills is inconsistent globally, including within the Palestinian undergraduate education system. To address this gap, the researchers evaluated the effectiveness and impact of the online leadership training program on the participants’ leadership competencies, aiming to identify effective adjuncts to formal curricula. Methods: This study employed a one-group pretest–post-test design. The intervention was an online training program conducted via Zoom Meetings Platform for a duration of 2 hours. The training curriculum was designed in accordance with the Medical Leadership Competency Framework (MLCF). Participants were recruited through a call for registration posted on the website of the International Medical Education Trust 2000. Pre-training/post-training impact assessment was conducted using the Medical Leadership Competence Scale (MeLeCoS). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired t-tests. Results: A total of 76 participants (65.8% undergraduates and 34.2% postgraduates) were enrolled in the study. The training significantly enhanced the participants' leadership competencies, as evidenced by the increase in the mean MeLeCoS score from 3.65 (±0.54) to 3.98 (±0.55) out of 5 (mean difference 0.33; 95% CI 0.20–0.45; p<0.001). Significant improvements were observed in five MeLeCoS factors (all p<0.001). No significant differences in the MeLeCoS scores between both sexes, study discipline, or training phase (p-values > 0.05). Conclusion: The online leadership training program markedly improved the participants' leadership competencies and emerged as a potential adjunct to formal curricula.

Downloads

Published

2026-03-29

How to Cite

Rjoub, A., Issa, Z., Rezeq , A., Salhi, Z., Zaben, F., & Zaben, M. (2026). The Impact of a Short Online Medical Leadership Competencies Framework (MLCF)-based Leadership Training Program on Leadership Competencies Development of Healthcare Students and Junior Professionals: A Pre-Post Study. AAUP Journal of STEM and Health Sciences, 1(1), 1–20. Retrieved from https://jsh-aaup.aaup.edu/index.php/jsh-aaup/article/view/1

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 1 (2026): Interdisciplinary Advances in STEM and Health Sciences

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2026 © 2026 The Author(s). Published by Arab American University. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

License Terms (CC BY 4.0)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction, and adaptation in any medium or format, including for commercial purposes, provided the original author(s) and source are properly credited, a link to the license is provided, and any changes made are indicated.

To view a copy of this license, visit: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/