EducationSurgeon and nonsurgeon personalities at different career points
Introduction
The development of the Big Five factor structure of personality [1] has standardized personality measurement and allows for comparative studies. Personality researchers rely on a descriptive model of these traits—the five factor model (FFM). This system categorizes personality into five traits as follows: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism (Fig. 1). Although prior studies have investigated personality differences between medical specialties [2], [3], few have examined surgery house staff personality profiles [4]; fewer still have evaluated personality traits across different career points. To date, no study has examined differences in personality traits across generations in the surgical workforce.
Among the biggest threats to the surgical workforce are stress and burnout. High levels of stress can adversely affect performance, career longevity, and job satisfaction [5]. This is particularly important among newer generations of surgeons who may not have developed advanced coping strategies [6] and tend to place more importance on life–work balance [7]. Although the causes of burnout are multifactorial, individual characteristics play an important role. Ironically, the traits that define a good surgeon are often associated with a greater risk of burnout. These include attention to detail, commitment to patients, and desire for perfection [5]. Personality testing may help identify individuals at risk for burnout so that early intervention can be undertaken.
Prior investigations [2], [3] have sought differences between surgeons and nonsurgeons, and our group believes that individuals with certain personality characteristics may gravitate toward surgical careers. We believe these personality characteristics are refined throughout residency training by numerous factors, including acquisition of skills and knowledge, interactions with colleagues and other healthcare professionals, and emulation of role models. We hypothesize that there are inherent personality differences between surgeons and nonsurgeons and that personality traits vary based on stage in career. The purpose of this study was to determine the distribution of personality traits among surgical and nonsurgical faculty and house staff according to the FFM.
Section snippets
Study sample
The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board. An electronic link to an anonymous personality survey was emailed to all faculty and house staff in the Departments of Medicine and Family Medicine (nonsurgeons, n = 586) and in the Department of Surgery (surgeons, n = 150) at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Faculty members included all clinicians in a department, and house staff included all physicians-in-training (interns, residents, and fellows) in a department.
Results
Sixty-eight of 150 surgeons (45%) and 124 of 586 nonsurgeons (21%) provided data for final analysis (overall response rate 37%). Women represented 35.3% of surgeon responders (15.5% faculty and 60% house staff) and 39.5% of nonsurgeon responders (34.7% of faculty and 39.5% of house staff; Table 1). Compared with a representative population sample, surgeons scored significantly higher on conscientiousness and extraversion (P < 0.001) and lower on neuroticism (P < 0.001) and openness (P = 0.013;
Discussion
The aim of this study was to investigate the distribution of personality traits among surgical and nonsurgical faculty and house staff, according to the FFM. We showed that surgeons were significantly more conscientious and extraverted, and significantly less agreeable, compared with nonsurgeon colleagues. We also showed that surgery house staff were significantly more agreeable compared with surgery faculty, but no significant differences were found between these two groups in the domains of
Conclusions
In conclusion, the current investigation highlights important personality differences between surgeons and nonsurgeons, men and women, and physicians at different career points. Surgeons appear to score higher than their nonsurgical colleagues in the areas of conscientiousness and extraversion but lower in agreeableness. Agreeableness may decrease over time. Although this finding may be related to personality change during surgical training or generational differences, the cross-sectional
Acknowledgment
Authors' contributions: J.M.D., S.N.O., L.A.P., E.C.E., and P.M. provided significant contributions to the study design and data acquisition. J.M.D., S.N.O., L.A.P., E.C.E., P.M., and L.M. did the data interpretation. L.Y. contributed to the statistical analysis. Additionally, all authors contributed to the article preparation.
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