Medical schools viewed from a political perspective: how political skills can improve education leadership

Objectives: Political science offers a unique perspective from which to inform education leadership practice. This article views leadership in the health professions through the lens of political science research and offers suggestions for how theories derived from political science can be used to develop education leadership practice.

Political science research: Political science is rarely used in the health professions education literature. This article illuminates how this discipline can generate a more nuanced understanding of leadership in health professions education by offering a terminology, a conceptual framework and insights derived from more than 80 years of empirical work.

Application to health professional education: Previous research supports the premise that successful leaders have a good understanding of political processes. Studies show current health professional education is characterised by the influence of interest groups. At the same time, the need for urgent reform of health professional education is evident. Terminology, concepts and analytical models from political science can be used to develop the political understanding of education leaders and to ultimately support the necessary changes.

Conclusions: The analytical concepts of interest and power are applicable to current health professional education. The model presented - analysing the policy process - provides us with a tool to fine-tune our understanding of leadership challenges and hence to communicate, analyse and create strategies that allow health professional education to better meet tomorrow's challenges.