Personality differences between surgery residents, nonsurgery residents, and medical students.
BACKGROUND
The Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality may provide a useful framework to understand performance-related issues in academic medical settings. We examined the distribution of FFM personality traits among surgery residents compared with medicine residents, medical students, and community norms.


METHODS
Two hundred and seventy-four residents in surgery, medicine, pediatrics, and anesthesiology and 207 medical students at a large tertiary care teaching hospital completed the Big Five Inventory, a well-validated 44-item measure of the FFM. Analysis of covariance was used to examine specialty group differences in personality traits, controlling for desirable response bias.


RESULTS
Surgery residents obtained greater scores for Conscientiousness, Extraversion, and Emotional Stability, but lower scores for Openness compared with community norms (all P < .05). Controlling for desirable responding, surgery residents also obtained greater Conscientiousness scores compared with medical students (P < .0001) and pediatric residents (P < .05), greater Extraversion scores compared with first-year medical students (P < .05), and lesser Openness scores compared with first-year medical students (P < .05).


CONCLUSIONS
Greater levels of Conscientiousness, which has been associated with academic and job success in previous studies, were observed among surgery residents compared with community norms, medical students, and some residents. We conclude that (1) surgery residents continue to exhibit desirable professional characteristics; and (2) further study into the utility of the FFM as a screening tool for future surgery trainees is warranted.
Hoffman
Benson M
BM
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27707, USA. Benson.Hoffman@Duke.Edu
Coons
Michael J
MJ
Kuo
Paul C
PC
D000046:Academic Medical Centers; D005120:Extraversion, Psychological; D005260:Female; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009657:North Carolina; D010551:Personality; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires