Introduction

Leadership is important at all stages of medical education. This must be the case, otherwise why would those of us who read and score Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) statements be asked to identify and evaluate markers of peer respect and leadership? Students are clearly aware of this too, otherwise why would they devote so many words to describing their leadership roles in Duke of Edinburgh’s awards, sports teams and societies? But once at medical school, the importance of leadership may be being forgotten. This is despite the growing body of evidence linking clinical outcomes to the quality of teamwork and leadership; for example, the strong association between effective teamworking and mortality demonstrated by West et al.1 This potentially does our students a disservice. Would it not be better to flag the importance of these qualities and encourage students to develop their leadership capabilities further, rather than allowing them to lie fallow for several years?