Medical students of all eight faculties in the Czech Republic have already incorporated the concept of MediCafé as a regular event in their extracurricular life. The idea of discussing important scientific topics with experienced scientists or doctors is not only inspiring, but it also leads to the development of the inner-scientist within each of us. Up to now, all of the discussions were solely in Czech, which limited the participation and involvement of foreign students.
In April 2013, the first MediCafé in English took place at the pleasant Globe Bookstore & Cafe. The Deans from 1st Faculty (prof. Aleksi Šedo) and 2nd Faculty (doc. Ondřej Hrušák) were invited to be the first guest speakers. Both of these respected individuals have leadership roles in their daily life, represent a faculty, conduct top laboratory research in their fields and much more. For one and a half hours, we heard about what is like to be a leader in medicine. The laid-back atmosphere of the café encouraged everyone to participate by asking questions and reflect on the meaning and role of being a leader.
As thoughts were shared, we came to the conclusion that being a leader is inevitable for any physician, but not every physician is a good leader. In most countries there is no formal education on this subject. The set of needed skills is mostly acquired from the ‘school of life’ or is inherent in certain individuals.
Working as an independent physician differs immensely from being the head of a large team. Leading different teams can be especially challenging when the transition from a highly motivated team (such as researchers) to a less motivated team (such as faculty managing departments) occurs.
Finally, in the words of prof. Aleksi Šedo: ‘Managers can be trained, but leadership must be cultured’.
Written by: Diogo Simões and Catarina Quaresma
