Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, (Siltavuorenpenger 5 A), P.O. Box 9, 00014, Helsinki, Finland.
National Center for Children and Families, Teachers College Columbia University, Thorndike Hall 525 West 120th Street, Box 39, New York, NY, 10027, USA.
BMC Med Educ. 2018 Mar 27;18(1):52. doi: 10.1186/s12909-018-1155-9.
Personality influences an individual's adaptation to a specific job or organization. Little is known about personality trait differences between medical career and specialty choices after graduating from medical school when actually practicing different medical specialties. Moreover, whether personality traits contribute to important career choices such as choosing to work in the private or public sector or with clinical patient contact, as well as change of specialty, have remained largely unexplored. In a nationally representative sample of Finnish physicians (N = 2837) we examined how personality traits are associated with medical career choices after graduating from medical school, in terms of employment sector, patient contact, medical specialty and change of specialty.
Personality was assessed using the shortened version of the Big Five Inventory (S-BFI). An analysis of covariance with posthoc tests for pairwise comparisons was conducted, adjusted for gender and age with confounders (employment sector, clinical patient contact and medical specialty).
Higher openness was associated with working in the private sector, specializing in psychiatry, changing specialty and not practicing with patients. Lower openness was associated with a high amount of patient contact and specializing in general practice as well as ophthalmology and otorhinolaryngology. Higher conscientiousness was associated with a high amount of patient contact and specializing in surgery and other internal medicine specialties. Lower conscientiousness was associated with specializing in psychiatry and hospital service specialties. Higher agreeableness was associated with working in the private sector and specializing in general practice and occupational health. Lower agreeableness and neuroticism were associated with specializing in surgery. Higher extraversion was associated with specializing in pediatrics and change of specialty. Lower extraversion was associated with not practicing with patients.
The results showed distinctive personality traits to be associated with physicians' career and specialty choices after medical school independent of known confounding factors. Openness was the most consistent personality trait associated with physicians' career choices in terms of employment sector, amount of clinical patient contact, specialty choice and change of specialty. Personality-conscious medical career counseling and career guidance during and after medical education might enhance the person-job fit among physicians.
人格会影响个体对特定工作或组织的适应能力。在医学院毕业后实际从事不同医学专业时，人们对医学职业和专业选择背后的人格特质差异知之甚少。此外，人格特质是否会影响一些重要的职业选择，如选择在私营部门还是公共部门工作，是否与临床患者接触，以及是否会改变专业，这些问题在很大程度上仍未得到探索。在一项对芬兰医生（N=2837）的全国代表性样本研究中，我们研究了人格特质如何与医学院毕业后的医学职业选择相关，具体涉及就业部门、与患者接触、医学专业和专业变更。
使用简化版大五人格量表（S-BFI）评估人格。采用协方差分析，并对性别和年龄进行调整，同时控制混杂因素（就业部门、临床患者接触和医学专业）。
较高的开放性与在私营部门工作、精神科专业、变更专业以及不与患者接触相关。较低的开放性与大量与患者接触、普通科和眼科及耳鼻喉科专业相关。较高的尽责性与大量与患者接触和外科及其他内科专业相关。较低的尽责性与精神科和医院服务专业相关。较高的宜人性与在私营部门工作、普通科和职业健康专业相关。较低的宜人性和神经质与外科专业相关。较高的外向性与儿科专业和变更专业相关。较低的外向性与不与患者接触相关。
研究结果表明，在考虑到已知混杂因素后，人格特质与医生毕业后的职业和专业选择存在显著关联。开放性是与医生职业选择最相关的人格特质，涉及就业部门、与患者接触的程度、专业选择和专业变更。在医学教育期间和之后，进行以人格为导向的医学职业咨询和职业指导，可能会提高医生与工作的匹配度。
