Purpose or Case Report: Professional identity formation (PIF) occurs both individually (the psychological development of the person), and collectively (the social interaction of the individual with their training environment). The purpose of this study is to assess aspects of medical trainees' personal identity, particularly those that are underrepresented in medicine, that have the most profound impact on PIF to identify opportunities to improve the educational environment through informed mentorship throughout medical training.
Methods & Materials: IRB-approved, two-phase, mixed-method study using grounded theory methodology. 1) Self-administered survey to evaluate stage of PIF. Descriptive statistics for survey questions were used and the impact of different categories was analyzed using the Student's t-test with a significance at p<0.05. 2) 30 semi-structured interviews to further explore individual narratives of participants’ career paths and PIF. All interviews were transcribed, coded, and analyzed using qualitative analysis software. Interviews were then thematically analyzed using a six-stage approach
Results: 308 participants (298 medical students and 10 residents), mean age25.6 years, most identified as female (53.2%) and male (45.5%). Sample was predominantly white (47.2%), U.S. citizens (90.3%), nonreligious/atheist/agnostic (45.7%), heterosexual (76.3%), and upper-middle socioeconomic status (45.8%). Less developed PIF was associated with male gender, non-heterosexual orientation, lower socioeconomic status, white race, underrepresented minority status, and non-U.S. citizenship. Interviews highlighted the influence of individual identity aspects on the interviewee’s interaction with their medical training environment. Five important themes affecting PIF were identified: (1) Personal Identity Aspects, (2) Interpersonal Relationships, (3) Mentorship, (4) Stage of Training, (5) Access, and (6) Expectations of Professionalism.
Conclusions: This study highlights the complex interaction between aspects of individual identity such as race, gender, sexuality, appearance, religion, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and their profound impact on how individuals navigate their medical training as well as the health of their PIF. Results from this study will be used to develop, implement, and evaluate an educational intervention to support integration of personal and professional selves to foster healthy individualized PIF throughout medical training.