Moula, Z, Horsburgh, J, Scott, K et al. (2 more authors) (2022) The impact of Covid-19 on professional identity formation: an international qualitative study of medical students' reflective entries in a Global Creative Competition. BMC Medical Education, 22 (1). 545. 545-. ISSN 1472-6920
Abstract
Introduction
The Covid-19 pandemic, which affected medical students globally, could be viewed as a disorientating dilemma with the potential to offer opportunities for transformative learning. In 2021 the Medical Education Innovation and Research Centre at Imperial College London launched a Global Creative Competition as a platform for medical students to reflect on their experiences during the pandemic.
Methods
Six hundred forty-eight creative pieces with written reflections were submitted by medical students from 52 countries. 155 students from 28 countries consented for their entries to be included in this study. The reflections were analysed thematically and independently by three reviewers to explore how the pandemic impacted students’ professional identity formation (PIF).
Results
The pandemic increased students’ awareness of the social and global role of doctors in addressing health inequities. Students felt part of a wider healthcare community and showed greater appreciation towards person-centred care. Students also became more aware of their personal needs, priorities, and the importance of self-care.
Discussion
In agreement with Mezirow’s theory of transformative learning (2003), the pandemic led students to re-examine pre-existing epistemic and sociocultural assumptions concerning the role of doctors and explore new perspectives of what it means to be a doctor. In accordance with Cheng’s theory of coping flexibility (2021), students developed both emotion-focused coping strategies (e.g., arts engagement) and problem-solving strategies (e.g., volunteering), suggesting they were able to adjust psychologically and develop agency. However, students experienced tension between their sense of duty and sense of wellbeing, highlighting the need for medical educators to design into programmes formal support systems where medical students have the space and time they need to reflect on their emergent identities as a doctor.
Conclusion
Medical educators should encourage students to reflect on their identity formation while encountering disorientating dilemmas. The inclusion of arts and humanities within the medical curriculum is strongly recommended to provide an avenue for students to access and express complex emotions and experiences.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2022. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. |
Keywords: | Professional identity formation, Disorienting dilemmas, Arts and humanities, Transformative learning |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > Medicine & Health Faculty Office (Leeds) > Faculty Office Functions (FOMH) (Leeds) > Dean's Office (FOMH) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 28 Oct 2022 10:24 |
Last Modified: | 28 Oct 2022 10:24 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | BMC |
Identification Number: | 10.1186/s12909-022-03595-1 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:192582 |