Behavioral evaluations of anesthesiology residents and overuse of the first-person pronoun in personal statements.
BACKGROUND
The admissions process for residency encompasses numerous objective and subjective measurements by which an applicant is evaluated. The personal interview and clinical evaluations are widely considered the most reliable method to identify unwanted behavioral characteristics. However, the role of a personal statement is less clear. There are reports of residency programs attempting to identify selfish or egocentric behavioral traits by counting the frequency of the first-person pronoun "I" in personal statements. The purpose of this study is to define the relationship between anesthesiology resident evaluations and the frequency of the first-person pronoun within their personal statements.


METHODS
Resident evaluations of 48 anesthesiology graduates were collected for 5 competencies. The iScore was calculated by determining the frequency of "I" in relation to total word count.


RESULTS
Correlation analysis between iScore and the 5 evaluation categories showed no significant relationship.


CONCLUSIONS
When examining the relationship between resident evaluations and iScore, the lack of significant correlation makes it difficult to predict resident performance based on "I" counts. This may be because the personal statement is a thoughtfully developed document that undergoes extensive editing, which may suppress or minimize writing styles that suggest the presence of unwanted behavioral traits. Further examination of personal statements with a larger sample size and data from other institutions and specialties are needed.
John J
JJ
Badal
Wayne K
WK
Jacobsen
Bradley W
BW
Holt