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A Longitudinal Assessment of Professional Identity, Wellness, Imposter Phenomenon, and Calling to Medicine Among Medical Students

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Abstract

Objective

This study assessed changes in professional identity, wellness, imposter phenomenon, and calling to medicine over time in medical school.

Methods

Medical students from the first through third years anonymously completed four validated measures: Perceived Wellness Survey (PWS), Brief Calling Scale (BCS), Physician In-group Identification Scale (PID), and Clance’s Imposter Phenomenon Scale (CIP). Survey completion implied informed consent. The study was exempted by the university IRB.

Results

All class of 2018 students (n = 110) returned surveys at the beginning of year 1; 58 completed surveys at the end of the preclinical years (post year 2, n = 44) and/or end of the third-year clerkship (post year 3, n = 35) and were analyzed. From pre to post preclinical years, there was a significant decrease in the PID. There were no statistically significant changes in the PWS, BCS, and CIP. From pre year 1 to post third-year clerkships, the PWS and PID decreased, the CIP increased, and the BCS did not change. Only 19% of students participated in all three survey administrations and this group was excluded from the analysis due to the low response rate.

Conclusion

Student wellness and sense of professional identity (in-group identity) dropped over 3 years of medical education, while imposter phenomenon increased. The BCS did not change over time. The decrease in identity as part of the physician community is concerning; future curriculum initiatives should focus on integration of professional identity into students’ individual identities and on initiatives to improve student well-being.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University, Dayton, OH, USA

    Valerie E. Houseknecht, Brenda Roman & Adrienne Stolfi

  2. Innovative Care Solutions, Dayton, OH, USA

    Valerie E. Houseknecht

  3. University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS, USA

    Nicole J. Borges

Authors
  1. Valerie E. Houseknecht
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  2. Brenda Roman
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  3. Adrienne Stolfi
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  4. Nicole J. Borges
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Correspondence to Valerie E. Houseknecht.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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This study was found to be exempt by the Wright State University IRB.

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Houseknecht, V.E., Roman, B., Stolfi, A. et al. A Longitudinal Assessment of Professional Identity, Wellness, Imposter Phenomenon, and Calling to Medicine Among Medical Students. Med.Sci.Educ. 29, 493–497 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-019-00718-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-019-00718-0

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