Abstract
BackgroundProfessional identity formation is nurtured through socialization, driven by interaction with role models, and supported through early clinical exposure (ECE) programmes. Non-healthcare professionals form part of the hospital community but are external to the culture of medicine, with their potential as role models unexplored. We employed text mining of student reflective assignments to explore the impact of socialization with non-healthcare professionals during ECE.MethodsAssignments from 259 first-year medical students at Fukushima Medical University, Japan, underwent hierarchical cluster analysis. Interrelationships between the most-frequently-occurring words were analysed to create coding rules, which were applied to elucidate underlying themes.ResultsA shift in terms describing professional characteristics was detected, from “knowledge/skill” towards “pride [in one’s work]” and “responsibility”. Seven themes emerged: contribution of non-healthcare professionals, diversity of occupation, pride, responsibility, teamwork, patient care and gratitude. Students mentioning ‘contribution of non-healthcare professionals’ spoke of altruistic dedication and strong sense of purpose. These students expressed gratitude towards non-healthcare professionals for supporting clinical work, from a doctor’s perspective.ConclusionSocialization with non-healthcare professionals provides important insights into the hospital working environment and cultural working norms. Through role modelling altruism and responsibility, non-healthcare professionals positively influenced student professional identity formation, promoting self-conceptualisation as a doctor.
Highlights
If according to the well-known African proverb it takes a village to raise a child, by this logic it should take a hospital to raise a doctor
Professional identity formation, identified as the desired outcome of teaching professionalism [1], is the process medical students undergo in their transformation from layperson to physician
Whilst it is recognised that experiences with non-clinicians, including patients and the lay public, have a role in professional identity formation [3], the focus has been on physician role models
Summary
If according to the well-known African proverb it takes a village to raise a child, by this logic it should take a hospital to raise a doctor. Professional identity formation, identified as the desired outcome of teaching professionalism [1], is the process medical students undergo in their transformation from layperson to physician. Crucial to this journey is socialization into the role with increasing participation in the community, where interaction with community members drives identity development [2]. Professional identity formation is nurtured through socialization, driven by interaction with role models, and supported through early clinical exposure (ECE) programmes. Non-healthcare professionals form part of the hospital community but are external to the culture of medicine, with their potential as role models unexplored.
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