Last update:
09-Mar-2021

From the era of William Osler and the paternalistic, hospital-centered practice of medicine up to the present day, a plethora of scientific breakthroughs have radically changed both the biomedical field and the approach of health care providers to patients. A crucial question arises, however, which is whether clinicians and, more broadly, health care providers, are familiar with the modern concepts of leadership theory and the characteristic features of a leader. Here, we attempt to fill this gap in a way that is aimed to assist the health care provider to obtain a deeper literacy in this field. Initially, a historical analysis is provided of the periods and "schools of thought" that shaped, and continue to shape, the characteristic features of a leader. The dialectical "ties" between leadership and management, the main theories of management, and the main theories of leadership are then discussed. Ultimately, this review aims to equip the busy clinician with the conceptual framework and tools relating to leadership and management, in order to assist him(her) in daily work, especially that which "touches upon" the management of health care units, regardless their scale.

Key words: Health care provision, Health care units, Leadership, Management, Medicine.