Foster, K. and Roberts, C. orcid.org/0000-0001-8613-682X (2016) The heroic and the villainous: a qualitative study characterising the role models that shaped senior doctors’ professional identity. BMC Medical Education, 16. 206. ISSN 1472-6920
Abstract
Background: The successful development and sustaining of professional identity is critical to being a successful doctor. This study explores the enduring impact of significant early role models on the professional identity formation of senior doctors. Methods: Personal Interview Narratives were derived from the stories told by twelve senior doctors as they recalled accounts of people and events from the past that shaped their notions of being a doctor. Narrative inquiry methodology was used to explore and analyse video recording and transcript data from interviews. Results: Role models were frequently characterised as heroic, or villainous depending on whether they were perceived as good or bad influences respectively. The degree of sophistication in participants' characterisations appeared to correspond with the stage of life of the participant at the time of the encounter. Heroes were characterised as attractive, altruistic, caring and clever, often in exaggerated terms. Conversely, villains were typically characterised as direct or covert bullies. Everyday events were surprisingly powerful, emotionally charged and persisted in participants' memories much longer than expected. In particular, unresolved emotions dating from encounters where bullying behaviour had been witnessed or experienced were still apparent decades after the event. Conclusion: The characterisation of role models is an important part of the professional identity and socialisation of senior doctors. The enduring impact of what role models say and do means that all doctors, need to consistently reflect on how their own behaviour impacts the development of appropriate professional behaviours in both students and training doctors. This is especially important where problematic behaviours occur as, if not dealt with, they have the potential for long-lasting undesirable effects. The importance of small acts of caring in building a nurturing and supportive learning atmosphere at all stages of medical education cannot be underestimated.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2016 The Authors. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. 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. |
Keywords: | Clinical education; Emotion; Narrative analysis; Professional identity; Reflection on behaviour; Role model; Attitude of Health Personnel; Bullying; Education, Medical; Emotions; Female; Humans; Interprofessional Relations; Interviews as Topic; Male; Memory, Episodic; Mentors; Narration; Physicians; Professional Competence; Qualitative Research; Social Identification; Stress, Psychological; Teaching |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > The Medical School (Sheffield) > Academic Unit of Medical Education (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 26 Jun 2023 10:47 |
Last Modified: | 26 Jun 2023 10:47 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12909-016-0731-0 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1186/s12909-016-0731-0 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:200823 |