Do students learn to be more conscientious at medical school?
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Professionalism in medical students is not only difficult to define but difficult to teach and measure. As negative behaviour in medical students is associated with post-graduate disciplinary action it would be useful to have a model...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2012-07-01
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| Series: | BMC Medical Education |
| Online Access: | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6920/12/54 |
| _version_ | 1818145936020340736 |
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| author | Chaytor Andrew T Spence Jacqueline Armstrong Ann McLachlan John C |
| author_facet | Chaytor Andrew T Spence Jacqueline Armstrong Ann McLachlan John C |
| author_sort | Chaytor Andrew T |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Professionalism in medical students is not only difficult to define but difficult to teach and measure. As negative behaviour in medical students is associated with post-graduate disciplinary action it would be useful to have a model whereby unprofessional behaviour at the undergraduate level can easily be identified to permit appropriate intervention. We have previously developed a scalar measure of conscientiousness, the Conscientiousness Index (CI), which positively correlates to estimates of professional behaviour in undergraduate medical students. By comparing CI points awarded in year 1 and year 2 of study we were able to use the CI model to determine whether teaching and clinical exposure had any effect on students’ conscientiousness.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>CI points were collected by administrative staff from 3 successive cohorts of students in years 1 and 2 of study. Points were awarded to students for activities such as submission of immunisation status and criminal record checks, submission of summative assignments by a specified date and attendance at compulsory teaching sessions. CI points were then converted to a percentage of maximal possible scores (CI %) to permit direct comparison between years 1 and 2 of study.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>CI % scores were generally high with each year of study for each cohort showing negatively skewed normal distributions with peaks > 89%. There was a high degree of correlation of CI % scores between year 1 and year 2 of study for each cohort alone and when cohort data was combined. When the change in CI % from year 1 to year 2 for all students was compared there was no significant difference in conscientiousness observed.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We have provided evidence that use of a CI model in undergraduate medical students provides a reliable measure of conscientiousness that is easy to implement. Importantly this study shows that measurement of conscientiousness by the CI model in medical students does not change between years 1 and 2 study suggesting that it is a stable characteristic and not modified by teaching and clinical exposure.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T12:11:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0649fccd5ed247788aac5599188b55d5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1472-6920 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T12:11:22Z |
| publishDate | 2012-07-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Medical Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-0649fccd5ed247788aac5599188b55d52022-12-22T01:07:47ZengBMCBMC Medical Education1472-69202012-07-011215410.1186/1472-6920-12-54Do students learn to be more conscientious at medical school?Chaytor Andrew TSpence JacquelineArmstrong AnnMcLachlan John C<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Professionalism in medical students is not only difficult to define but difficult to teach and measure. As negative behaviour in medical students is associated with post-graduate disciplinary action it would be useful to have a model whereby unprofessional behaviour at the undergraduate level can easily be identified to permit appropriate intervention. We have previously developed a scalar measure of conscientiousness, the Conscientiousness Index (CI), which positively correlates to estimates of professional behaviour in undergraduate medical students. By comparing CI points awarded in year 1 and year 2 of study we were able to use the CI model to determine whether teaching and clinical exposure had any effect on students’ conscientiousness.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>CI points were collected by administrative staff from 3 successive cohorts of students in years 1 and 2 of study. Points were awarded to students for activities such as submission of immunisation status and criminal record checks, submission of summative assignments by a specified date and attendance at compulsory teaching sessions. CI points were then converted to a percentage of maximal possible scores (CI %) to permit direct comparison between years 1 and 2 of study.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>CI % scores were generally high with each year of study for each cohort showing negatively skewed normal distributions with peaks > 89%. There was a high degree of correlation of CI % scores between year 1 and year 2 of study for each cohort alone and when cohort data was combined. When the change in CI % from year 1 to year 2 for all students was compared there was no significant difference in conscientiousness observed.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We have provided evidence that use of a CI model in undergraduate medical students provides a reliable measure of conscientiousness that is easy to implement. Importantly this study shows that measurement of conscientiousness by the CI model in medical students does not change between years 1 and 2 study suggesting that it is a stable characteristic and not modified by teaching and clinical exposure.</p>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6920/12/54 |
| spellingShingle | Chaytor Andrew T Spence Jacqueline Armstrong Ann McLachlan John C Do students learn to be more conscientious at medical school? BMC Medical Education |
| title | Do students learn to be more conscientious at medical school? |
| title_full | Do students learn to be more conscientious at medical school? |
| title_fullStr | Do students learn to be more conscientious at medical school? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Do students learn to be more conscientious at medical school? |
| title_short | Do students learn to be more conscientious at medical school? |
| title_sort | do students learn to be more conscientious at medical school |
| url | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6920/12/54 |
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