Sociometric Assessment of Leadership Status in Substance Abuse Training

Abstract

A learner-centered clinical faculty development program in substance abuse, conducted at an urban medical school, was evaluated using a sociometric approach. This fellowship program was based upon the premise that faculty fellows would become academic opinion leaders in the sense that other clinical faculty, as well as residents and students, would seek them out for their knowledge and expertise on substance abuse. A survey instrument designed to test this hypothesis was distributed to all full-time clinical faculty in the fellows’ departments (General Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Family Medicine) at the beginning and upon conclusion of training. Significant pre-post differences were observed on the dimensions of advice/consultation, clinical management, teaching, and research. In all but one case, the changes in perception were positive, and specific to the subject of substance abuse, and represented all of the dimensions. Posttraining perceptions were extremely favorable compared with those of established leaders. The exceptional case in which a negative change in perception occurred after the fellowship appeared to be influenced by a radical change in the fellow's administrative role. These findings suggest that a faculty development program of this kind can generate academic opinion leaders. It remains to be seen whether or not this position can be translated into a persistent academic presence.