Knowledge Is Power for Medical Assistants: Crystallized and Fluid Intelligence As Predictors of Vocational Knowledge.

Anne Moehring,Ulrich Schroeders,Oliver Wilhelm

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00028

Anne Moehring, Ulrich Schroeders + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00028

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Abstract

Medical education research has focused almost entirely on the education of future physicians. In comparison, findings on other health-related occupations, such as medical assistants, are scarce. With the current study, we wanted to examine the knowledge-is-power hypothesis in a real life educational setting and add to the sparse literature on medical assistants. Acquisition of vocational knowledge in vocational education and training (VET) was examined for medical assistant students (n = 448). Differences in domain-specific vocational knowledge were predicted by crystallized and fluid intelligence in the course of VET. A multiple matrix design with 3 year-specific booklets was used for the vocational knowledge tests of the medical assistants. The unique and joint contributions of the predictors were investigated with structural equation modeling. Crystallized intelligence emerged as the strongest predictor of vocational knowledge at every stage of VET, while fluid intelligence only showed weak effects. The present results support the knowledge-is-power hypothesis, even in a broad and more naturalistic setting. This emphasizes the relevance of general knowledge for occupations, such as medical assistants, which are more focused on learning hands-on skills than the acquisition of academic knowledge.

Highlights

Research regarding medical education has mainly focused on medical students in different phases of their education by examining admission to medical schools and universities (Lievens et al, 2016; Schripsema et al, 2017), performance in school (Schauber et al, 2015), and the transition from university education to practice (Schmidt and Rikers, 2007)
While most studies in medical education research are limited to university education of prospective physicians, the current study focused on knowledge acquisition and prediction in vocational education and training (VET) of medical assistants
Individual differences in domain-specific knowledge at different stages of VET were regressed on gf and gc

Summary

Introduction

Research regarding medical education has mainly focused on medical students in different phases of their education by examining admission to medical schools and universities (Lievens et al, 2016; Schripsema et al, 2017), performance in school (Schauber et al, 2015), and the transition from university education to practice (Schmidt and Rikers, 2007). While physicians are undoubtedly of great importance for the health system, other health-related occupations are often neglected in research on medical education. In Germany, medical assistants mostly work in medical practices as assistants of the respective physician. Their duties typically include the implementation of medical treatments and especially the maintenance and management of Knowledge Is Power for Medical Assistants administrative work (for a comprehensive overview of tasks see Taché and Chapman, 2006; Taché and Hill-Sakurai, 2010). Unlike nurses, who in many countries are required to complete a college or university education, medical assistants in Germany are trained in vocational schools that focus on hands-on practice and administrative work. The specialized medical and health-related knowledge acquired during medical vocational education and training (VET) is important for later work performance (Hunter, 1983; Lievens and Patterson, 2011)

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