Reliance on high technology among senior medical students.
To gain a better understanding of senior medical students who perceive high-technology medicine as the desirable form of medical practice, we developed and evaluated a structural equation model. Intolerance to clinical uncertainty, Machiavellianism, and authoritarianism characterized students who scored higher on reliance on high-technology medicine. High scorers also tended to have a negative orientation toward patients' psychological problems and were unlikely to choose careers in primary care medicine. Students who perceive high technology as a panacea in clinical medicine share personal traits and attitudes toward patients that are not conducive to achieving the national goal of a 50:50 ratio between primary and non-primary care physicians.
Merrill
J M
JM
Department of Family and Community Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. jmerrill@bcm.tmc.edu
Lorimor
R J
RJ
Thornby
J I
JI
Vallbona
C
C
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005194:Family Practice; D005845:Georgia; D006801:Humans; D007087:Illinois; D008145:Louisiana; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D012577:Schools, Medical; D013337:Students, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013672:Technology; D013714:Tennessee; D013781:Texas