Defining undergraduate medical students' physician identity: Learning from Indonesian experience

Abstract

Introduction: Developing a professional identity involves understanding what it means to be a professional in a certain sociocultural context. Hence, defining the characteristics and/or attributes of a professional (ideal) physician is an important step in developing educational strategies that support professional identity formation. To date, there are still limited studies that explore undergraduate medical students’ professional identity. This study aimed to define the characteristics and/or attributes of an ideal physician from five first-year and three fourth-year undergraduate medical students. Methods: Qualitative case studies were conducted with eight undergraduate medical students from a private Catholic medical school in Jakarta, Indonesia. The study findings were generated from participants’ in-depth interviews using in vivo coding and thematic analysis. Findings were triangulated with supporting evidence obtained from classroom observations and faculty interviews. Results: First-year participants modeled their professional identities based on their memorable prior interactions with one or more physicians. They mainly cited humanistic attributes as a part of their professional identity. Fourth-year participants emphasised clinical competence and excellence as a major part of their professional identities, while maintaining humanistic and social responsibilities as supporting attributes. Several characteristics unique to Indonesian’s physician identity were ‘Pengayom’ and ‘Jiwa Sosial’. Conclusion: Study participants defined their professional identities based on Indonesian societal perceptions of physicians, prior interactions with healthcare, and interactions with medical educators during formal and informal learning activities. Keywords: Professional Identity Formation, Indonesia Undergraduate Medical Students, Physician Identity