Customized Residency Leadership Tracks: A Review of What Works, What We're Doing and Ideas for the Future

Effective leaders are essential to ensure the future of radiology. Radiologists often find themselves in leadership positions despite a lack of formal leadership training. The fourth year of residency is the ideal time to expose young physicians to leadership and extraclinical specialization, as such leadership development prior to fellowship may still impact academic career choice. In this manuscript, we discuss prior successes of leadership tracks within medicine and review the evidence supporting the saying that “leaders are made, not born”. Finally, we describe the evolution of our institution's residency leadership tracks highlighting key components, challenges, early successes and future endeavors.