title: Are medical students agreeable? An exploration of personality in relation to clinical skills training.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Clinical competencies like trust, empathy, and cooperation are emphasized in medical school curricula. Agreeableness, a personality domain, reflects these competencies. It is unclear, however, whether medical student personality is intrinsically agreeable.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We explored whether medical student personality reflects Agreeableness, and compared student Agreeableness with that of police officer recruits, a group in which high Agreeableness is not preferred.
  
  
  METHODS
  Students and recruits completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, which measures domains of the five-factor model: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Medical student Agreeableness was at average levels. Students were high in Extraversion and Openness, reflecting personal growth, leadership, problem solving, and influencing. Relative to recruits, students had higher Neuroticism and Openness and lower Conscientiousness. Agreeableness and Extraversion did not differ. Using discriminant analysis, Neuroticism, Openness, and Conscientiousness accurately classified 77% of students and recruits.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Medical students were not inordinately agreeable. They were ambitious, intellectually-creative problem solvers with a preference to direct/influence. Clinical skills training that acknowledges this style may enhance clinical education processes. Model-based methods for clinical skills--including agenda-setting, conflict resolution, and alliance making - that require mastery of techniques and have evidence-based relevance to patient care may be useful adjuncts to conventional clinical training.
authors.affiliation: Saint Louis University, MO 63104, USA. chibnajt@slu.edu
authors.forename: John T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Chibnall
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Blaskiewicz
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Detrick
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002983:Clinical Competence; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008923:Missouri; D010551:Personality; D010555:Personality Inventory; D016495:Police; D013337:Students, Medical; D055815:Young Adult