Maximising Neurosurgical Residency Training: Integrating Skill, Cognition, and Resilience

Introduction The concept of professional identity (as distinct from technical skills development), and how it can be cultivated by trainees in neurosurgical training has not been explored before. Aims This study aimed to assess neurosurgical trainees’ perceptions of professional identity, how it develops and how it might be enhanced during the course of training. Methods A mixed methods cross-sectional analysis was conducted consisting of semi-structured, in-depth interviews with a small group of neurosurgical trainees to qualitatively identify common themes around professional identity. These themes were then quantitatively analysed via a national on-line questionnaire survey amongst the wider United Kingdom neurosurgical trainee cohort. Results Interviewed participants were fiveteen British neurosurgical trainees spanning across junior (n = 5), intermediate (n = 5) and senior (n = 5) levels of training at two University teaching hospitals representing high-volume tertiary centres for Neurosurgery in the United Kingdom. The on-line questionnaire survey returned complete responses by 80 trainees (30% response rate). These data demonstrated that at different stages of training, neurosurgical trainees self-identified differently, and engaged in different practices to develop their identity. However, all trainees irrespective of level appeared to perceive a common set of qualities that define the identity of a fully-fledged neurosurgeon. Conclusion A model has been constructed that describes professional identity formation amongst neurosurgical trainees at different stages of training, and how these feed into an aspired core identity profile of a Neurosurgeon. Based on this model, suggestions have been made to potentially improve professional identity formation amongst neurosurgical trainees.

Professional identity formation (PIF) plays a significant role in the development of medical students, with reflection expected to help learners align their personal values with the expectations of the profession. While theoretical models propose that reflection and PIF advance hand in hand, empirical studies suggest that the various types of reflection may evolve independently. In this study, we aimed to (a) investigate the levels of PIF, reflective practice and self-reflection and insight across academic years, and (b) assess whether reflective practice and self-reflection and insight are significant predictors of medical students' PIF. We conducted a cross-sectional quantitative study that included 1401 medical students from four universities in Indonesia. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire along with the Professional Identity Formation (PIF) questionnaire, Reflective Practice Questionnaire (RPQ) and Self-reflection and Insight Scale (SRIS). We used one-way ANOVA to examine the differences of PIF, RPQ and SRIS across the academic years; Pearson correlations to examine the association between PIF, RPQ and SRIS; and regression analysis to assess the predictive value of RPQ and SRIS on PIF. Both PIF (F = 32.221, p < 0.001) and reflective practice (F = 6.796, p < 0.001) increased across academic years, while self-reflection and insight remained stable (F = 1.683, p = 0.136). Reflective practice correlated with PIF (r = 0.420; p < 0.001), while self-reflection and insight did not (r = -0.017; p = 0.528). Reflective practice was a significant predictor of PIF in the regression analysis (B = 0.674, p < 0.001). Reflection on practice associates with professional identity formation in medical students, but self-reflection and insight do not.

Background: The honorable medical profession is on the verge of being reduced to a business. Evidence suggests that professionalism is fading and today's doctors are faced with value-threatening problems and gradually begin to forget their main commitment as medical professionals. Many of the problems faced by doctors are rooted in non-professionalism. Mere education in the science and practice of medicine produces an inefficient medical workforce and leads to the formation of a distorted professional identity. In the past decade, educational innovations targeting the formation of desirable professional identities have been presented and are considered a vital part of medical education for the development of professionalism. The present study was conducted to examine the relationship between the formation of professional identity and professionalism. Professionalism education is essential in the formation of a desirable professional identity. Methods: This review article was done in 2015 through searching databases, such as PubMed, Elsevier, Google Scholar, Ovid, SID, and IranMedex, using keywords of professionalism and professional identity, and medical education. Among the 55 found articles, 30 were assessed and selected for review. Results: The formation of professional identity is a process with the following domains: professionalism, and development of a personal (psychosocial) and a cultural identity, which is derived from the unification of professional, personal, and ethical development. The main components required for the formation of a desirable identity are, therefore, rooted in the dimensions of professionalism and professional development. The need for teaching professionalism has a reciprocal relationship with the formation of professional identity. Conclusion: There is a reciprocal relationship between formation of a desirable professional identity and development and strengthening of professionalism. Modern medical education should be designed to develop professional identity, and professionalism acts as an essential part of its curricula throughout the entire course of a doctor’s education, with the aim of acquiring a desirable professional identity

A look at the global impact of COVID-19 pandemic on neurosurgical services and residency training

Neurosurgery Training in Greece

Perception and Representation of LGBTQ+ Individuals in U.S. Neurosurgical Training

The article analyses the main models and theories on the study of the concept of "professional identity" and the main factors influencing the formation of students' professional identity during their studies in higher education institutions. The article studies and compares the Erikson model of identity development, the theory of social identity, and the theory of career choice. The main provisions of professional identity in the works of world and national scientists are considered. Novelty of the work includes the study of domestic and international experience of educational work aimed at the formation of a positive professional identity of students. The authors propose forms and methods of work that will contribute to the formation of the professional identity of medical students, in particular, it is proposed to introduce comprehensive educational programmes and include certain topics, courses, etc. in the curriculum that would contribute to the formation of professional competence and identity of students of professional higher education. Relevance of the topic is due to the fact that the problem of professional adaptation and identification of students in higher education institutions after they have chosen a speciality, and the effectiveness of their work requires a detailed study. The authors investigated the content of the concept of "professional identity". The authors reviewed the influencing factors on the formation of professional identity, in particular, the role of educational work and the role of the teacher in the process of forming students' professional identity. The problems of professional identity formation at the university stage in Ukrainian higher education institutions are studied. The emphasis is placed on the modernisation of teaching and educational work in the higher education system of Ukraine. It is emphasised that practical training, which universities should provide through internships, cooperative programmes, research projects and practices, is of great importance in the formation of professional identity in students.

Professional Identity Formation -- Legal Education's Early Emphasis on Character, the Evisceration of this Priority, and What the First Law Schools Can Teach Us

A fundamental goal of medical education is the active, constructive, transformative process of professional identity formation (PIF). Medical educators are thus charged with designing standardized and personalized curricula for guiding, supporting, and challenging learners on the developmental professional identity pathway, including the process of socialization. The author of this Commentary provides an overview of foundational principles and key drivers of PIF supporting the being, relating, and doing the work of a compassionate and competent physician. Key elements of PIF including guided reflection, use of personal narratives, integral role of relationships and role modeling, and community of practice are viewed through various lenses of PIF theory and pedagogy. Questions informing the PIF discourse are raised, including interprofessional identity considerations. Central emergent themes of reflective practice, relationships, and resilience are described as supporting and reciprocally enhancing PIF. Overarching lessons include attending to learners' and faculty's PIF within a developmental trajectory of the professional life cycle; process and content within PIF curricula as well as learners' individual and collective voices; curricular/extracurricular factors contributing to socialization, self-awareness, development of core values, and moral leadership; integrating PIF domains within pedagogy; faculty development for skilled mentoring and reflective coaching; and implementing resilience-promoting skill sets as "protective" within PIF. Outcomes assessment including the impact of curricula on learners and on patient-centered care can be challenging, and potential next steps toward this goal are discussed.

Transformation of neurosurgical training from “see one, do one, teach one” to AR/VR & simulation – A survey by the EANS Young Neurosurgeons

The Continuing Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 on Neurosurgical Training at the 1-Year Mark: Results of a Nationwide Survey of Neurosurgery Residents in Turkey

Meaningful Connections: Exploring the Relationship Between Empathy and Professional Identity Formation

The intersectionality of professional and personal identity formation in a virtual pre-health pathway program

Professional identity formation plays a crucial role in the transition from medical student to doctor. At McMaster University, medical students maintain a portfolio of narrative reflections of their experiences, which provides for a rich source of data into their professional development. The purpose of this study was to understand the major influences on medical students' professional identity formation. Sixty-five medical students (46 women; 19 men) from a class of 194 consented to the study of their portfolios. In total, 604 reflections were analysed and coded using thematic narrative analysis. The codes were merged under subthemes and themes. Common or recurrent themes were identified in order to develop a descriptive framework of professional identity formation. Reflections were then analysed longitudinally within and across individual portfolios to examine the professional identity formation over time with respect to these themes. Five major themes were associated with professional identity formation in medical students: prior experiences, role models, patient encounters, curriculum (formal and hidden) and societal expectations. Our longitudinal analysis shows how these themes interact and shape pivotal moments, as well as the iterative nature of professional identity from the multiple ways in which individuals construct meaning from interactions with their environments. Our study provides a window on the dynamic, discursive and constructed nature of professional identity formation. The five key themes associated with professional identity formation provide strategic opportunities to enable positive development. This study also illustrates the power of reflective writing for students and tutors in the professional identity formation process.

Surgical care practitioners are non-medical members of the surgical team, who provide direct surgical care to patients, delegated by consultant surgeons. The surgical care practitioners' professional role is within the new non-medical or nursing workstream, practising under the medical model of care in response to staff shortages and the rising expectations that are affecting the National Health Service. This article seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the phenomenon of the emergent professional identity of surgical care practitioners. Six surgical care practitioners were purposively sampled for in-depth, semi-structured interviews whereupon their concepts of professional transition and professional identity formation from their individual points of view were explored using a phenomenological approach. Transcripts and reflective texts were subject to repeated interpretation in a hermeneutic circle of understanding. Interpretation of the results in context allowed for a discussion informed by self-interpreted constructions and revolved around eight cluster themes that emerged explicating how surgical care practitioners experienced professional transition and professional identity formation. In addition, a notion of 'journey' in the development of professional identity (narratives about professional identity formation: the hero's journey) was embedded in the reflections of the participants and their narratives produced rich accounts of the phenomenon under investigation.