The relationship between medical students' depression, anxiety, stress levels, views of health management and perceptions of clinical leadership

Clinical leadership is a definition that brings together the leadership qualities that clinicians who should be in a leadership role should have. In Turkey, although the concept of leadership is a topic that has been researched in health care, studies on the concept of clinical leadership are limited due to its novelty. The aim of this study is to assess the perceptions of clinical leadership of medical students who, according to current knowledge, will be the future health managers and team leaders, their perspectives on health management and psychiatric factors (such as depression, stress, anxiety) that may influence this process. The study was conducted between 1 September 2022 and 1 July 2023 with a total of 336 students continuing their education at Başkent University, Ankara, who were selected by proportional stratified random sampling method and agreed to participate in the study. The questionnaire administered to the students consisted of a total of 42 questions (23 questions in the socio-demographic information section, 6 questions in the professional preferences section, 13 questions in the health management opinions section) and the Clinical Leadership Scale (CLS) consisting of 40 items and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) consisting of 21 items. 76.5% of participants reported that they had received no training in health management at medical school, and 58.6% of those who had received training found it inadequate. As total DASS-21 scores increased, total CLO scores decreased. Those with psychiatric illness had lower CLL scores and higher DASS-21 scores than the others. Anxiety and stress scores were higher in women than in men. Smokers had higher total DASS-21 scores. In the 5th and 6th semesters, the frequency of smoking and experimenting with drugs was higher than in the other semesters. In semester 6, the number of students who regretted their decision to study medicine was high. The CLO score of students in semester 6 is low compared to other semesters. 45.5% of participants plan to work abroad in the future. In conclusion, psychiatric conditions such as depression, anxiety and stress were found to have a negative impact on medical students' perceptions of clinical leadership. Understanding the relationship between medical student leadership competencies and psychological health may help to better prepare future healthcare leaders and improve the quality of healthcare services.