Introduction The experiences of medical students suggest that the teaching on healthcare leadership currently delivered through core curriculum material at medical school is insufficient, and there are few opportunities to engage in leadership activities. Thus, Birmingham Medical Leadership Society (BMLS) sought to gauge students’ perceptions on an alternative form of healthcare leadership teaching that would facilitate core curriculum material – extracurricular events on healthcare leadership and management organised by a student-led society.

Methods Renowned leaders in healthcare were invited to speak on various topics related to leadership and management at 12 online events organised by BMLS. 249 participants completed evaluation forms, distributed after each event. Participants were asked to rate the leadership training available at their medical school and the perceived usefulness of the BMLS event they attended, how interesting it was, and how relevant it would be to their careers – on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being most useful/interesting/relevant.

Results Only 27% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that the leadership teaching or opportunities available at their medical school were sufficient for developing leadership skills for the workplace. 96% of the 249 participants rated the BMLS event they attended 5/5 (62%) or 4/5 (34%) in terms of usefulness. 92% rated the event 5/5 (62%) or 4/5 (31%) in terms of how interesting it was. 94% rated the event 5/5 (66%) or 4/5 (28%) on relevance to future careers.

Conclusion This study demonstrates that the use of the student-society model for promoting healthcare leadership and management is an effective way to incorporate leadership training at medical school without overloading medical curricula. Existing medical leadership societies across the nation are recommended to adopt the scalable, sustainable, and promising student-society model demonstrated, to promote healthcare leadership among students.