Professional Identity Formation of Surgical Residents Over Their First Year of Postgraduate Training

Abstract

Professional identity is defined as the internalized values of a profession as a representation of the self, and is formed through a process of socialization, or how a student learns to become a member of their profession. As medical students transition to residency, new social environments, clinical experiences, and curricular emphases can impact how they identify as professionals. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how professional identity formation (PIF) occurs in surgical residents over their first year of postgraduate training. Twenty-four surgical residents were interviewed at the start of their postgraduate training. Questions explored participants’ understanding of what it means to be a medical professional. Six months later, residents completed a follow-up interview to investigate how their experiences in their training programs have influenced their professional identity. Thematic analysis was utilized to identify themes in responses. Central to participants’ understanding of their professional identity was their relationships with patients and the public, other healthcare professionals, their training program, and their own expectations for themselves. After six months, less emphasis was placed on the influence of the public and one’s own personal expectations. Factors such as patient encounters, a team-based work environment, time constraints and high volumes of work, and being prepared for all situations were all identified as crucial to professional development. It is important for medical education programs to consider their impact on the development of students, especially regarding the transition to competency-based medical education (CBME) that is currently occurring in medical education. This change could impact the social environment and formal curricula of these programs. The explicit study of PIF is important not only for students as they develop into independent health professionals, but also to ensure the proper care of the patients these surgeons will be working with.