[Psychological profile of anesthesia residents in the province of Andalucia].

OBJECTIVES

To describe the personality traits and value systems of the population of residents in anesthesiology of a province in Andalusia and to analyze what the ideal profile of an anesthesiologist in training would be.

SUBJECTS AND METHOD

Forty-four residents in anesthesiology were invited to participate, of whom 22 accepted. The participants voluntarily completed anonymous written questionnaires with 232 items: the sixteen personality factors questionnaire, form A (R.B. Cattell), and the survey of interpersonal values (L.V. Gordon).

RESULTS

The residents scored high on primary factors of intelligence (B), self-sufficiency (Q2) and conservatism (Q1). High scores were also recorded on the secondary factors of anxiety (QI) and socialization (QIII); low scores were seen for independence (QIV). Four theoretical personality models (alpha, beta, gamma and delta) were established based on the data. Four residents were alphas (18%), 10 were betas (45%), 6 were gammas (27%) and 2 were deltas (10%).

CONCLUSIONS

An ideal personal profile for residents in anesthesiology by American authors has been available since the 1960s. An ideal resident should be independent, calm, aware, stable, secure, self-disciplined and alert; moreover, he or she should enjoy team work. The residents with alpha personalities were ideal. At present, the training of residents and the selection criteria for access to specialized training based on a personality test are scarcely valued in our discipline.