Abstract
BackgroundTo be a “good doctor” and have “good medical practices” are apparent goals for both medical students and medical faculties. However, the associated implicit and explicit standards could be a source of distress in the form of pressure to achieve professionalism. Self-compassion has been identified as a transtherapeutic factor that plays a crucial role in developing and maintaining mental health. It seems to be an essential meta-skill to learn, especially for medical students who often perceive imperfection as failure. In this pilot study, we investigated the qualities that medical students attribute to the “good doctor” concept, how they perceive themselves compared to this concept, and whether any possible discrepancy between these two perspectives could be associated with self-compassion.MethodsAltogether, 301 medical students participated in the study (mean age 22.3 ± 2.1; 71.8 % female). The discrepancy between concepts was measured by a semantic differential consisting of a list of 36 adjectives and antonyms that students repeatedly mentioned in courses in their responses to the question “What should a doctor be like?” Self-compassion was measured by the Self-Compassion Scale.ResultsThe obtained results offer an insight into students’ conceptualization of a “good doctor” and the hierarchy of given characteristics. Statistical analysis revealed significant associations between the discrepancy between the “ideal” doctor concept vs. actual self-perception and Self-Compassion Scale scores. The more students are compassionate to themselves, the lower the discrepancy.ConclusionsThe current pilot study supports the hypothesis that student self-compassion could play some role in the degree of discrepancy between the ideal “good doctor” image and student self-concept. This result could support the importance of educational interventions developing self-compassion for medical students. The proposed discrepancy measurement could also be a tool for measuring the effect of well-being programs aimed at self-compassion in medical students.
Highlights
To be a “good doctor” and have “good medical practices” are apparent goals for both medical students and medical faculties
While studies in this field often focus on a more general relationship between self-compassion, compassion fatigue, and burnout syndrome among healthcare professionals [28] or between self-compassion and well-being in medical students [29], our pilot study describes a new specific association between self-compassion and the “good doctor” concept
Self-compassion, such as transtherapeutic and transdiagnostic phenomenon playing a role in developing and maintaining mental health and quality of life [19, 20], seems to be a critical metaskill or interpretation filter helping students in some cases to relieve from dejection-related emotions associated with high discrepancy
Summary
To be a “good doctor” and have “good medical practices” are apparent goals for both medical students and medical faculties. It includes various needs and motives such as interest in science, desire to help people, influence and social respect, job stability, high salary, and exciting job In this context, most medical students want to be a “good doctor” and have “good medical practices” in their future to fulfil the notion they have dreamed about. Most medical students want to be a “good doctor” and have “good medical practices” in their future to fulfil the notion they have dreamed about This notion is based on the integration of their personal motives and needs and professional standards recommended by medical associations (e.g., [1]), public bodies protecting patient safety and improving medical education (e.g., [2]), hidden curricula [3], and competency-based medical education [4], and of patient needs and preferences [5]. The relationship between professionalism and self-compassion has not been addressed yet in the literature
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