Predicting Physician Assistant Students’ Professionalism by Personality Attributes (original) (raw)

A Holistic Approach of Personality Traits in Medical Students: An Integrative Review

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021

Personality is one of the most crucial aspects of human life, since it influences all human behaviours in both personal and social life, and might also trigger important conflicts with a person’s surroundings in the setting of incompatible traits and characteristics. It is true that ‘one must be born’ for a certain medical specialty, but several components of personality might be educated with proper training. Increased levels of Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Openness associated with lower levels of Neuroticism might represent the key combination for achieving professional satisfaction in the medical profession. Medical students should receive proper interprofessional education, since effective interprofessional relationships among healthcare providers definitely improve patients’ safety. Empathy contributes to effective patient–physician communication, improving patient trust, compliance, and satisfaction, being positively correlated with Openness, Agreeableness, Conscienti...

Personality factors as predictors of medical student performance

Medical Education, 1982

Personality characteristics were studied among a group of candidates chosen to study medicine in a selection process determined in large part by personal interview ratings. These personality characteristics were examined further with regard to their relation to student performance in an interpersonally community-oriented school of medicine. Seven scales taken from the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) were studied in regard to their relationship to interview ratings, cognitive and clinical performance and an overall rating by a team of teaching staff. 'Dominance', 'Self-acceptance', 'Well-being'., 'Tolerance', 'Responsibility' and 'Achievement via conformance' were found to be significantly, albeit modestly, correlated to interview ratings, while 'Achievement via independence' was not. All seven CPI scales, except Responsibility significantly differentiated between contrasted groups on cognitive examination scores and overall teachers' ratings, but not on clinical ratings. Discriminant analyses suggested that 'Achievement via independence', 'Self-acceptance', 'Dominance' and 'Achievement via conformance' were the best overall predictors of cognitive performance and teaching staff ratings. Implications for selection of training of interpersonally, communityoriented professionals in medicine and allied helping fields are discussed.

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

Medical Teacher, 2009

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.

The Big Five Domain: An Insight into the Personality Traits of First Year Medical Students

International Journal of Health Sciences and Research, 2016

Background: The blend of cognitive and non cognitive abilities which is also influenced by the personality of an individual helps in the making of an ideal doctor. The personality traits required for a model doctor has not yet been identified. The aim of the study was to identify the prominent personality traits of medical school entrants and to correlate the various personality traits. Materials and methods: This cross sectional study was done on 92 first year medical students in an Indian medical college. The validated IPIP big five personality questionnaire was administered. The results obtained were analyzed using ANOVA and Pearson’s correlation tests on SPSS version 22. Results: The students score highest on conscientiousness followed by openness; the least being agreeableness which is statistically significant. Agreeableness and neuroticism were found to be positively correlated significantly with conscientiousness. Neuroticism is negatively correlated with extroversion. Concl...

How physicians identify with predetermined personalities and links to perceived performance and wellness outcomes: a cross-sectional study

BMC health services research, 2014

Certain personalities are ascribed to physicians. This research aims to measure the extent to which physicians identify with three predetermined personalities (workaholic, Type A and control freak) and to explore links to perceptions of professional performance, and wellness outcomes. This is a cross-sectional study using a mail-out questionnaire sent to all practicing physicians (2957 eligible, 1178 responses, 40% response rate) in a geographical health region within a western Canadian province. Survey items were used to assess the extent to which participants felt they are somewhat of a workaholic, Type A and/or control freak, and if they believed that having these personalities makes one a better doctor. Participants' wellness outcomes were also measured. Zero-order correlations were used to determine the relationships between physicians identifying with a personality and feeling it makes one a better doctor. T-tests were used to compare measures of physician wellness for tho...

Personality scale validities increase throughout medical school

Journal of Applied Psychology, 2009

Admissions and personnel decisions rely on stable predictor-criterion relationships. The authors studied the validity of Big Five personality factors and their facets for predicting academic performance in medical school across multiple years, investigating whether criterion-related validities change over time. In this longitudinal investigation, an entire European country's 1997 cohort of medical students was studied throughout their medical school career (Year 1, N ϭ 627; Year 7, N ϭ 306). Over time, extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness factor and facet scale scores showed increases in operational validity for predicting grade point averages. Although there may not be any advantages to being open and extraverted for early academic performance, these traits gain importance for later academic performance when applied practice increasingly plays a part in the curriculum. Conscientiousness, perhaps more than any other personality trait, appears to be an increasing asset for medical students: Operational validities of conscientiousness increased from .18 to .45. In assessing the utility of personality measures, relying on early criteria might underestimate the predictive value of personality variables. Implications for personality measures to predict work performance are discussed.

Do personality profiles among physicians correlate with their career choices?

MedEdPublish, 2016

We all recognize that different types of medical doctors may have different ways to interact with patients. Here, we asked how well their personality profiles correlate with their career choice, and discuss how those personality profiles may impact on the quality of healthcare and teaching. Method We used Process Communication Model® (PCM) test to assess the prevalence of personality profiles among 161 medical doctors, both general practitioners and specialists, who are either in private practice or engaged in an academic career. The goal was to describe their self-assessed personality profiles and to explore whether these profiles differed according to gender, specialty choice, or private versus academic practice choice. Findings We found that most academic doctors envision the world predominantly through their thoughts and logic and are motivated most easily by recognition of their opinion and beliefs. On the other hand, most private practice doctors view the world through their feelings, are people-oriented, and are motivated most easily through recognition of personhood.

Investigating personality and conceptualising allied health as person or technique oriented

Australian Health Review, 2014

Objective Allied health (AH) includes many diverse professions, each with a unique contribution to healthcare, making it possible to consider these professions as person oriented (PO) or technique oriented (TO). This paper explored the personality traits of AH professionals from the perspective of both the PO or TO orientation and the individual professions. Methods AH professionals (n = 562) provided demographic data and completed the Temperament and Character Inventory. Examination of the literature and a consultation process resulted in nine professions classified as PO and 10 classified as TO. Multivariate analyses compared levels of personality traits and demographic variables between the PO (n = 492) and TO (n = 70) groups, and the professions within the groups. Results Professionals in the PO group showed significantly higher levels of traits that emphasise person orientation attributes, such as being sociable, empathic and cooperative, compared with AH professionals in profe...