Tehran University of Medical Sciences Acta Medica Iranica 0044-6025 62 2 2024 11 16 65 73 Azam Rahimzadeh Nursing Research Center of Respiratory Diseases (NRCRD), National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD), Masih Daneshvari Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Saeed Ghiasi Nodooshan Department of Educational Administration and Planning, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sceinces, Allameh Tabataba’I University, Tehran, Iran. Hamid Rahimian Department of Educational Administration and Planning, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sceinces, Allameh Tabataba’I University, Tehran, Iran. Ali Khorsandi Taskoh Department of Educational Administration and Planning, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sceinces, Allameh Tabataba’I University, Tehran, Iran. Fazlollah Ahmadi Department of Nursing, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran 2024 04 06 2024 07 02 Universities of Medical Sciences as the organizations that provide human resources for the health systems need effective leaders who can promote the medical status of the countries. In this regard, the present qualitative grounded theory study is an attempt to design an effective leadership model for departments of clinical education. The study identified causal conditions, background, confounding variables, consequences, and the central theme of “belief in effective leadership” to determine formation process of effective leadership. Based on the study findings, effective leadership model was designed for clinical education departments of medical universities. The distinguishing aspect of this model compared to the previously presented models of academic leadership is creation of the belief of effective leadership in medical sciences universities. This distinguishing factor emphasizes the academic leader’s recognition of their immediate environment, university, department and their selves. https://acta.tums.ac.ir/index.php/acta/article/view/11059 https://acta.tums.ac.ir/index.php/acta/article/download/11059/5891