Personality profiles of male and female positive role models in medicine

Profiling health professionals' personality traits, behaviour styles and emotional intelligence: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

Non-cognitive traits have been theorised to predict characteristics, career choice and outcomes of health professionals and could represent a homogenous group. This study aims to profile and compare personality traits, behaviour styles and emotional intelligence of health practitioners across a variety of professions.

METHODS

Empirical literature was systematically reviewed. A two-concept search strategy was applied to four databases (CINAHL, PubMed, Embase, ProQuest). Title/abstract and full text articles were screened against inclusion and exclusion criteria. Methodological quality was assessed using Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Data was synthesised narratively and meta-aggregated where feasible.

RESULTS

Three hundred twenty-one studies representing 153 assessment tools of personality (n = 83 studies), behaviour (n = 8), and emotional intelligence (n = 62) were included. Most studies (n = 171) explored personality (medicine, nursing, nursing assistants, dentistry, allied health, paramedics), revealing variation in traits across professions. Behaviour styles were least measured with only ten studies exploring these across four health professions (nursing, medicine, occupational therapy, psychology). Emotional intelligence (n = 146 studies) varied amongst professions (medicine, nursing, dentistry, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, radiology) with all exhibiting average to above-average scores.

CONCLUSION

Personality traits, behaviour styles and emotional intelligence are all key characteristics of health professionals reported in the literature. There is both heterogeneity and homogeneity within and between professional groups. The characterisation and understanding of these non-cognitive traits will aid health professionals to understand their own non-cognitive features and how these might be useful in predicting performance with potential to adapt these to enhance success within their chosen profession.

Gender and role models in the education of medical doctors: a qualitative exploration of gendered ways of thinking

OBJECTIVES

To examine how 'gendered ways of thinking' relate to role models in medical education.

METHODS

This study employed an explorative, qualitative, and cross-sectional design. A total of 57 interviews were held with medical students (28 interviews) and with faculty members (29 interviews) at a Swedish medical school. Participants were asked to describe their role models and the attributes that made certain individuals role models. Data were analysed using an inductive approach in three separate steps that explored the relationship between role models and gender.

RESULTS

Males do not generally consider female doctors as role models, and male role models are generally viewed as more admirable than female role models. This was shown in all steps of the analysis and most prominently in how male role models were described as qualitatively more admirable than female role models. Male role models are thus more common (for male and female students) and described as more admirable. The results point to the persistence of 'gendered ways of thinking' that subtly shape medical students.

CONCLUSIONS

Gendering role models is disadvantageous to female doctors in several ways, so the results have implications for women's career paths and opportunities. The results can thus form a basis for discussing and teaching the importance of gender in role modelling and in medical education in general.

The hidden process of positive doctor role modelling

BACKGROUND

Role modelling is highlighted as an important phenomenon. The aim of this research study was to explore the process of positive doctor role modelling.

METHODS

This study used focus group interviews with 52 medical students, semi-structured interviews with 25 consultants and interviews after clinics with five consultants and five medical students. A qualitative methodology using the grounded theory inquiry approach of Strauss and Corbin was then used to generate an explanation of the process of modelling.

RESULTS

Role modelling is a process that involves conscious and subconscious elements and consists of an exposure phase followed by an evolution phase: The exposure phase involves demonstration of the attributes by the doctor role models. The evolution phase begins with observation of the role model, following which the modellee makes a judgement whether to trial the observed behaviours; when the decision to trial is reached, this then leads to a model-trialling cycle.

CONCLUSION

This research study generated a detailed explanation of the process of doctor role modelling. It is aspired that this can now be incorporated into medical curricula worldwide to enhance the development of the doctor role model and the professional development of the modellee.

Doctor role modelling in medical education: BEME Guide No. 27

AIM

The aim of this review is to summarise the evidence currently available on role modelling by doctors in medical education.

METHODS

A systematic search of electronic databases was conducted (PubMed, Psyc- Info, Embase, Education Research Complete, Web of Knowledge, ERIC and British Education Index) from January 1990 to February 2012. Data extraction was completed by two independent reviewers and included a quality assessment of each paper. A thematic analysis was conducted on all the included papers.

RESULTS

Thirty-nine studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria for the review. Six main themes emerged from the content of high and medium quality papers: 1) the attributes of positive doctor role models; 2) the personality profiles of positive role models; 3) the influence of positive role models on students' career choice; 4) the process of positive role modelling; 5) the influence of negative role modelling; 6) the influence of culture, diversity and gender in the choice of role model.

CONCLUSIONS

This systematic review highlights role modelling as an important process for the professional development of learners. Excellence in role modelling involves demonstration of high standards of clinical competence, excellence in clinical teaching skills and humanistic personal qualities. Positive role models not only help to shape the professional development of our future physicians, they also influence their career choices. This review has highlighted two main challenges in doctor role modelling: the first challenge lies in our lack of understanding of the complex phenomenon of role modelling. Second, the literature draws attention to negative role modelling and this negative influence requires deeper exploration to identify ways to mitigate adverse effects. This BEME review offers a preliminary guide to future discovery and progress in the area of doctor role modelling.

Personality assessments and outcomes in medical education and the practice of medicine: AMEE Guide No. 79

In a paradigm of physician performance we propose that both "cognitive" and "noncognitive" components contribute to the performance of physicians-in-training and in-practice. Our review of the relevant literature indicates that personality, as an important factor of the "noncognitive" component, plays a significant role in academic and professional performances. We describe findings on 14 selected personality instruments in predicting academic and professional performances. We question the contention that personality can be validly and reliably assessed from admission interviews, letters of recommendation, essays, and personal statements. Based on conceptual relevance and currently available empirical evidence, we propose that personality attributes such as conscientiousness and empathy should be considered among the measures of choice for the assessment of pertinent aspects of personality in academic and professional performance. Further exploration is needed to search for additional personality attributes pertinent to medical education and patient care. Implications for career counseling, assessments of professional development and medical education outcomes, and potential use as supplementary information for admission decisions are discussed.

The attributes of the clinical trainer as a role model: a systematic review

PURPOSE

Medical trainees (interns and residents) and their clinical trainers need to be aware of the differences between positive and negative role modeling to ensure that trainees imitate and that trainers demonstrate the professional behavior required to provide high-quality patient care. The authors systematically reviewed the medical and medical education literature to identify the attributes characterizing clinical trainers as positive and negative role models for trainees.

METHOD

The authors searched the MEDLINE, EMBASE, ERIC, and PsycINFO databases from their earliest dates until May 2011. They included quantitative and qualitative original studies, published in any language, on role modeling by clinical trainers for trainees in graduate medical education. They assessed the methodological quality of and extracted data from the included studies, using predefined forms.

RESULTS

Seventeen articles met inclusion criteria. The authors divided attributes of role models into three categories: patient care qualities, teaching qualities, and personal qualities. Positive role models were frequently described as excellent clinicians who were invested in the doctor-patient relationship. They inspired and taught trainees while carrying out other tasks, were patient, and had integrity. These findings confirm the implicit nature of role modeling. Positive role models' appearance and scientific achievements were among their least important attributes. Negative role models were described as uncaring toward patients, unsupportive of trainees, cynical, and impatient.

CONCLUSIONS

The identified attributes may help trainees recognize which aspects of the clinical trainer's professional behavior to imitate, by adding the important step of apperception to the process of learning professional competencies through observation.

The surgical personality: comparisons between urologists, non-urologists and non-surgeons

BACKGROUND

: Our objective was to compare personality traits between urologists and other surgeons, as well as between surgeons and non-surgeons.

METHODS

: Eighty-six surgeons (57 faculty, 29 residents) completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R), a validated measure of normal personality traits. Subjects agree or disagree with 240 statements to generate a score in each of the 5 major character traits: extraversion (E), openness (O), conscientiousness (C), agreeableness (A) and neuroticism (N). Each factor is subdivided into 6 component facets. Scores for urology faculty and residents were compared to the other surgical groups and 21 pediatricians.

RESULTS

: The 3 groups differed significantly on extraversion (p < 0.001). Post-hoc analyses indicated that urologists obtained significantly higher extraversion scores than other surgeons (p < 0.05) and non-surgeons (p < 0.001) Other surgeons also scored significantly higher than non-surgeons on the extraversion factor (p < 0.05). No significant differences emerged on openness, conscientiousness, agreeableness or neuroticism. Of the 6 extraversion facets, urologists obtained significantly higher scores on gregariousness and excitement-seeking (p < 0.05) than non-urologist surgeons, and significantly higher scores on gregariousness (p < 0.05), activity (p < 0.01), excitement seeking (p < 0.001), and positive emotions (p < 0.05) than non-surgeons. Non-urologist surgeons obtained significantly higher scores than non-surgeons on Activity and Excitement-seeking (p < 0.01).There were no significant differences in the facets of warmth or assertiveness.

INTERPRETATION

: Urologists appear to be more extraverted compared to other surgeons. Both groups of surgeons were more extraverted than non-surgeons. If these findings can be confirmed on a wider basis, the data may be helpful in resident selection, mentoring, evaluation and career counselling.

Are medical students agreeable? An exploration of personality in relation to clinical skills training

BACKGROUND

Clinical competencies like trust, empathy, and cooperation are emphasized in medical school curricula. Agreeableness, a personality domain, reflects these competencies. It is unclear, however, whether medical student personality is intrinsically agreeable.

AIM

We explored whether medical student personality reflects Agreeableness, and compared student Agreeableness with that of police officer recruits, a group in which high Agreeableness is not preferred.

METHODS

Students and recruits completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, which measures domains of the five-factor model: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness.

RESULTS

Medical student Agreeableness was at average levels. Students were high in Extraversion and Openness, reflecting personal growth, leadership, problem solving, and influencing. Relative to recruits, students had higher Neuroticism and Openness and lower Conscientiousness. Agreeableness and Extraversion did not differ. Using discriminant analysis, Neuroticism, Openness, and Conscientiousness accurately classified 77% of students and recruits.

CONCLUSION

Medical students were not inordinately agreeable. They were ambitious, intellectually-creative problem solvers with a preference to direct/influence. Clinical skills training that acknowledges this style may enhance clinical education processes. Model-based methods for clinical skills--including agenda-setting, conflict resolution, and alliance making - that require mastery of techniques and have evidence-based relevance to patient care may be useful adjuncts to conventional clinical training.

Correspondence

Acumen is an electronic learning package, which has been developed by the Royal Colleges of Physicians with E-learning for Health (E-LfH) and the Department of Health for trainees in acute medicine. Aimed at doctors of ST1 grade and above, it is a considerable resource using interactive case-based scenarios.

Personality and specialty interest in medical students

BACKGROUND

Research on the relationship between personality and specialty interest is important because of its implications in student career counseling and in forecasting future specialty distribution.

AIM

This study was designed to test the following hypotheses: 1. Students interested in 'surgical' specialties would obtain higher scores on a measure of 'impulsive sensation seeking' and lower scores on a measure of 'neuroticism-anxiety'. 2. Students interested in 'hospital-based' specialties would score lower on a measure of 'sociability' whereas those interested in 'primary care' would score higher on this measure. In addition to these two hypotheses, gender differences on personality were also examined.

METHOD

Study participants were 1,076 students who matriculated at Jefferson Medical College between 2002 to 2006. A short version of the Zuckerman-Kuhlman personality questionnaire (ZKPQ) measuring five personality factors of 'impulsive sensation Seeking', 'neuroticism-anxiety', 'aggression-hostility', 'sociability', and 'activity' was completed by research participants at the beginning of medical school. Students were also asked to note their specialty interests.

RESULTS

Multivariate statistical analyses confirmed the first and partially confirmed the second research hypotheses. Results also showed that men scored higher on 'impulsive sensation seeking,' and women outscored men in the 'neuroticism-Anxiety' and 'activity' scales.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest that information about the personalities of medical students can help to predict their career interests. Implications for career counseling are discussed.

Why winners win: decision making in medical malpractice cases

A high percentage of physicians will, at some time in their careers, face a lawsuit, possibly finding themselves in the courtroom even when they have not made a medical mistake. Despite the presumption that juries are biased in favor of injured plaintiffs, physicians win most of their trials. Why this occurs and how juries make their decisions are topics of ongoing interest. Research has been done on jury decision making, including what, if any, the roles of race and sex play in the process. It is essential that those who enter the courtroom understand both the power they have to influence the outcome of their own trials and why it is that issues of character continue to be so important to juries.

Medical student and academic staff perceptions of role models: an analytical cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

This study explored the associations between the perceptions of students and the perceptions of academic staff about the characteristics of clinical lecturers at the Department of Internal Medicine at Kerman University of Medical Sciences (KUMS). It also assessed what characteristics constitute a 'role model' from the point of view of students and staff.

METHODS

Staff and students were questioned about the characteristics of their colleagues and lecturers, respectively. They were asked about 15 characteristics under four headings: personality, teaching skill, group working and overall performance as a role model. Associations between lecturers' characteristics were explored using Pearson correlation and characteristics were allocated into groups by partition cluster method. In addition, predictors of being a valuable lecturer were assessed using logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

Based on staff responses, the strongest association observed was between honesty and being respectful (r = 0.93, p < 0.0001). Based on student responses, the strongest association observed was between being professional and honesty (r = 0.98, p < 0.0001). None of the correlations between student and staff perceptions were significant for any characteristic. Two groups were recognized among the characteristics. group one contained those characteristics which were related to the lecturer's activity; while the second group contained characteristics that were related to the personality or teaching performance of the lecturer. The predictors of lecturer as 'role model' (i.e., perceptions of students) consisted mostly of characteristics from the first group, while the predictors of a 'role model' by fellow academic staff consisted of characteristics that were in both groups.

CONCLUSION

These findings showed considerable differences between the perceptions of students about their lecturers when compared with perceptions of staff about their colleagues. Students were more concerned with the personality of their lecturers, while staff also considered their ideas and behaviors. This suggests that a more comprehensive assessment of a lecturer's performance could be obtained by taking into account feedback from both students and colleagues.

Assessing professional behavior: yesterday, today, and tomorrow

PURPOSE

The author interprets the state of the art of assessing professional behavior. She defines the concept of professionalism, reviews the psychometric properties of key approaches to assessing professionalism, conveys major findings that these approaches produced, and discusses recommendations to improve the assessment of professionalism.

METHOD

The author reviewed professionalism literature from the last 30 years that had been identified through database searches; included in conference proceedings, bibliographies, and reference lists; and suggested by experts. The cited literature largely came from peer-reviewed journals, represented themes or novel approaches, reported qualitative or quantitative data about measurement instruments, or described pragmatic or theoretical approaches to assessing professionalism.

RESULTS

A circumscribed concept of professionalism is available to serve as a foundation for next steps in assessing professional behavior. The current array of assessment tools is rich. However, their measurement properties should be strengthened. Accordingly, future research should explore rigorous qualitative techniques; refine quantitative assessments of competence, for example, through OSCEs; and evaluate separate elements of professionalism. It should test the hypothesis that assessment tools will be better if they define professionalism as behaviors expressive of value conflicts, investigate the resolution of these conflicts, and recognize the contextual nature of professional behaviors. Whether measurement tools should be tailored to the stage of a medical career and how the environment can support or sabotage the assessment of professional behavior are central issues. FINAL THOUGHT: Without solid assessment tools, questions about the efficacy of approaches to educating learners about professional behavior will not be effectively answered.

Identifying characteristics that students, interns and residents look for in their role models

OBJECTIVE

To identify characteristics which students, interns and residents look for in their role models.

METHODS

A 45-item self-administered questionnaire was sent to a sample (n=96, response rate 80%) consisting of three groups: (1) students in years 3-6 of the medical curriculum (n=66); (2) interns (n=17) and (3) residents (n=13). The questionnaire contained characteristics that participants might use to describe excellent role models, grouped under five general headings: personality, clinical, research and teaching skills, and community service. Other characteristics mentioned by study subjects were qualitatively analysed using content analysis.

RESULTS

Personality and teaching and clinical skills were ranked as the top three factors, and research skills and community service as the least important factors by 79 (82%) respondents. Qualitative analysis of characteristics described by respondents for their role models yielded 21 characteristics. These were clustered into three main themes: role models as teacher, physician and person. The most frequently mentioned characteristics were personal characteristics such as positive, respectful attitudes toward patients and their families, and staff and colleagues; honesty; politeness; enthusiasm; competence, and knowledge. Females rated nine personal characteristics significantly higher than males (P < 0.05). Interns and residents valued teaching enthusiasm and competence significantly more than students (P=0.01). Role models had a strong influence on the specialty choice of 53 (55%) respondents.

CONCLUSION

Knowing the characteristics of excellent role models should help medical educators to formulate strategies to recruit, retain and develop them. Increasing exposure of a variety of excellent role models to aspiring medical practitioners should be encouraged.