Understanding personality in surgical career development: A cross-sectional study of Swedish medical students and surgeons
Johan Wänman, Leif Berglund, My Blohm, Per Jolbäck, Aleksandra McGrathBackground:
The selection of a medical specialty is influenced by multiple factors, with personality traits potentially shaping career preferences. This study examines the personality traits and their impact on interest in surgical specialty among Swedish medical students, considering gender and comparing students and practicing surgeons.
Methods:
The Big Five Inventory was used to assess personality traits of medical students and surgeons in a cross-sectional study. The students were recruited from Umeå University and the University of Gothenburg, whereas the included surgeons were recruited from hospitals across Sweden. The data were collected between the 29th of August 2022 and the 2nd of December 2024. Differences in personality traits were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), adjusting for age and gender.
Results:
The participants were 276 fourth-year medical students and 471 Swedish surgeons. Statistically significant differences were found between medical students who preferred surgical specialization compared to students preferring non-surgical specialization, with lower neuroticism (p = 0.007), higher extraversion (p = 0.01), and, after adjustment for gender and age, higher conscientiousness (p = 0.045) in the group who preferred surgical specialization. Female students scored higher than male students in conscientiousness (p < 0.001), agreeableness (p = 0.047), and neuroticism (p = 0.002). Female students scored higher in neuroticism than female surgeons (p = 0.005) and lower in conscientiousness (p = 0.043), while male students had lower conscientiousness scores than male surgeons (p < 0.001).
Conclusions:
This study suggests that a combination of personality traits distinguishes Swedish medical students with interests in surgery from medical students with interest in non-surgical specialization. This difference is likely shaped by an interplay of student selection and professional socialization.