Development of a scale to evaluate medical professional identity formation

Masami Tagawa

doi:10.1186/s12909-019-1499-9

Abstract

BackgroundMedical educators now focus on professional identity formation (PIF), which is a process of psychological development and socialization in the community of practice. This study aimed to develop an instrument to evaluate PIF that can be applied to a large group of medical trainees.MethodsA self-administered questionnaire was created with items on priorities, behavior standards, attitudes, and emotional control of well-developed physicians, in addition to items on their background and experience in playing the role of a physician. The participants were divided into four respondent groups: 4th- and 6th-year medical students and 2nd-year residents at Kagoshima University, and experienced medical doctors (instructors).ResultsUsing factor analysis of data from 318 respondents and respondent group comparison, a developing scale (DS) with 15 items was created.The DS has a five-factor structure and evaluates self-control as a professional (factor 1), awareness of being a medical doctor (factor 2), reflection as a medical doctor (factor 3), execution of social responsibility (factor 4), and external and internal self-harmonization (factor 5). The mean DS score of the instructors was significantly higher than that of the residents (p < 0.01), the mean score of residents and instructors was significantly higher than that of students (p < 0.01), and the mean score of instructors was significantly higher than that of all other respondents (p < 0.01). Respondent group, but not gender, was a significant variable of the DS. The DS and scores of factors 2 and 4 correlated with 6th-year medical students’ experience in playing the role of a physician during clinical training, and scores of factors 3 and 4 correlated with 2nd-year residents’ experience in playing the role of a physician. There was no significant difference between the mean DS score of 4th- and 6th-year medical students, which might due to less clinical experience among 6th-year medical students or a limitation of the scale to evaluate pre-clinical medical students.ConclusionsThe DS could be a useful indicator of medical trainees’ personal and professional development and socialization. Experience in playing the role of a physician might facilitate medical trainees’ PIF.

Highlights

Medical educators focus on professional identity formation (PIF), which is a process of psychological development and socialization in the community of practice
In recent years, medical educators have focused on the acquisition of professional identity, or professional identity formation (PIF), as a medical doctor [1,2,3,4,5] as the ultimate goal of medical education [6]
The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to evaluate the degree of maturation, socialization, and acceptance of professional values, which comprise the core features of PIF, and that can be applied to a large group of medical trainees

Summary

Introduction

Medical educators focus on professional identity formation (PIF), which is a process of psychological development and socialization in the community of practice. This study aimed to develop an instrument to evaluate PIF that can be applied to a large group of medical trainees. A previous study indicated that Kegan’s human developmental model [17] could apply to medical professions and manifestation in a medical context was discussed [4, 7, 15]. Kegan’s model, which was based on Piaget [18] and other developmental theories [19, 20], indicates a framework for the longitudinal psychological development of the self into a moral and meaning-making entity. An evaluation scale could be developed using items on well-developed (stage 4 and higher) professional attributes as indicators

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