GMO Leadership Roles

Introduction The majority of military general providers or general medical officers (GMOs) work in medical treatment facilities or operational units all over the world. GMOs are even assigned with operational units that are in hostile environments such as Iraq or Afghanistan. GMOs are medical providers that have graduated from an accredited medical school and have passed all requirements to receive a Medical Doctorate. Once they pass basic Officer Candidate School, they are automatically assigned the rank of O-3, Lieutenants in the military. Most GMOs have never received any type of leadership training. The majority of GMOs rarely have jobs while attending medical school so they do not possess leadership or work experience. Being assigned to the rank of a Lieutenant normally takes four years for a new officer to reach that level. Even

They are great clinicians but have a hard time distinguishing between the provider and leader role, they lack the skills to lead their staff in personal growth or achieving organizational task. The purpose of this study is to explore how GMOs think about leadership in military medicine, specifically their leadership roles and challenges. A qualitative study is the appropriate method to fully obtain the GMOs perspective on their leadership roles and challenges they have to experience. The study’s aim is to provide prospective GMO’s a better understanding of what is expected in the military and what leadership is required to become an effective military leader and clinician. In this study the following research questions are used. First, what are the experiences of GMOs in military health care organizations? Second, what challenges does GMOs encounter when placed in dual clinical and leadership