Abstract
BackgroundMultiple factors influence the decision to enter a career in medicine and choose a specialty. Previous studies have looked at personality differences in medicine but often were unable to describe the heterogeneity that exists within each specialty. Our study used a person-centered approach to characterize the complex relations between the personality profiles of resident physicians and their choice of specialty.Methods169 resident physicians at a large Midwestern US training hospital completed the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). Clusters of personality profiles were identified without regard to medical specialty, and then the personality clusters were tested for association with their choice of specialty by co-clustering analysis. Life satisfaction was tested for association with personality traits and medical specialty by linear regression and analysis of variance.ResultsWe identified five clusters of people with distinct personality profiles, and found that these were associated with particular medical specialties Physicians with an “investigative” personality profile often chose pathology or internal medicine, those with a “commanding” personality often chose general surgery, “rescuers” often chose emergency medicine, the “dependable” often chose pediatrics, and the “compassionate” often chose psychiatry. Life satisfaction scores were not enhanced by personality-specialty congruence, but were related strongly to self-directedness regardless of specialty.ConclusionsThe personality profiles of physicians were strongly associated with their medical specialty choices. Nevertheless, the relationships were complex: physicians with each personality profile went into a variety of medical specialties, and physicians in each medical specialty had variable personality profiles. The plasticity and resilience of physicians were more important for their life satisfaction than was matching personality to the prototype of a particular specialty.
Highlights
Through popular media and opinions from those working in the medical profession itself, there are certain stereotypes about physicians that permeate medicine and mainstream culture (Thomas, 1997)
We confirmed prior work indicating that physicians as a group are high-functioning individuals who are usually adaptable and resilient as indicated by their being high in self-directedness, cooperativeness, persistence, and life satisfaction
We found that there is substantial heterogeneity among physicians beyond these core traits and that this heterogeneity in personality profiles is strongly associated with individual differences in specialty choice among medical residents at the same teaching hospital
Summary
Through popular media and opinions from those working in the medical profession itself, there are certain stereotypes about physicians that permeate medicine and mainstream culture (Thomas, 1997). Medical students often make a lifelong career decision based on limited exposure to each of these very different fields. These decisions are made based on a complex interaction of factors such as enjoyment of clinical rotations, standardized test scores, grades, earning potential, prestige, and general estimation of their cohesiveness with future colleagues (Cleland et al, 2012; Reed, Jernstedt & Reber, 2001). Clusters of personality profiles were identified without regard to medical specialty, and the personality clusters were tested for association with their choice of specialty by co-clustering analysis. The plasticity and resilience of physicians were more important for their life satisfaction than was matching personality to the prototype of a particular specialty
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