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Biomedical subjects

M M Wallick

Publications and source records attributed to M M Wallick.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Myers-Briggs type and medical specialty choice: a new look at an old question.

BACKGROUND: Career development of health professionals is one of many uses of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), with many studies reported from the 1950s. Since 1977, no large-scale effort to collect data on the medical school population has been reported. PURPOSE: To determine (a) changes in MBTI profiles of medical students over time, (b) differences between the profiles of men and women and the effects of the increased number of women in medical school, (c) possible associations between type and career choices, and (d) possible type differences of graduates selecting primary care and specialties. METHOD: Twelve U.S. schools with data on 3,987 students contributed to a database of their graduates' MBTI type and specialty choice at Match. RESULTS: Compared with data from the 1950s, the type distribution of physicians has remained fairly stable, save for a trend toward more judging types. Women in medicine today are more representative of the general population on the feeling dimension than earlier, when medicine was more male-dominated. Women are more likely than men to choose primary care specialties, as are those with preference for introversion and feeling. Feeling types choose Family Medicine significantly more often than thinking types; male, extraverted, and thinking types choose surgical specialties. Of those selecting nonprimary care, male, extraverted, and thinking types choose surgical specialties significantly more than women, introverted, and feeling types. CONCLUSION: Type remains useful for understanding how some aspects of personality relate to medical specialty choice.

Career Choice↗
PubMed1999

Personality types in academic medicine.

Based on Swiss physician-scholar Carl G. Jung's theory of psychological types proposed in the 1920s, Kathleen Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers developed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) three decades later. They applied Jung's dynamic theory to determine how persons take in information, make decisions, and communicate thoughts and feelings. Medical students were of special interest to their research and much has been written since then about the use of the MBTI in medicine. In this study, results of MBTIs administered to 1797 freshmen students at Louisiana State University School of Medicine--New Orleans from 1988 to 1998 are compared with those reported by the MBTI developers and others over the years and throughout the United States. Findings indicate some noteworthy shifts in the psychological profile of medical students over time and among schools that may be due to changes in the delivery of health care, the increase in technology in the practice of medicine, and the dramatic increase of women in medicine.

Female↗
PubMed1999

Personality type and medical specialty choice.

The July 1999 issue of the Journal of the Louisiana State Medical Society reported results of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator administered to 1,797 students at Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana from 1988 through 1998. The current follow-up study has as its subjects 1,262 matriculants who entered the School from 1988 through 1995 and completed their medical undergraduate studies by May 1999. In addition to identification of the graduates' Myers-Briggs type, information on their residency choice was also available. In this study, the authors explore possible association between the graduates' personality type and their chosen career, along with possible type differences of those graduates selecting primary care and those choosing non-primary care specialties.

Career Choice↗
PubMed1997

Gay and lesbian issues in child and adolescent psychiatry training as reported by training directors.

OBJECTIVE: Although increased evidence of disproportionate psychosocial risk and other health problems encountered by lesbian, gay male, and bisexual (LGB) youths has emerged, no study has described how the topic of homosexuality is addressed within child and adolescent residency psychiatry training. METHOD: Residency training directors in U.S. child and adolescent psychiatry programs were asked questions about instruction on the topic of homosexuality and the care of LGB patients, the department's view of whether homosexuality represents a pathological condition, the director's awareness of LGB colleagues and residents, and the director's opinion of LGB residents' disclosure of their homosexuality to their patients and patients' families. Asking similar questions facilitated a comparison of survey results with those of an earlier study of general psychiatry training directors. RESULTS: The reported departmental attitudes about whether homosexuality represents a pathological condition were essentially equivalent in general and child programs. Child and adolescent training directors were, however, less likely to have a favorable view of disclosure of sexual orientation to patients, less likely to know LGB residents or faculty, and less likely to report LGB residents an asset to their departments. CONCLUSIONS: The prediction that the majority of child and adolescent training programs would reflect a heightened awareness of the vulnerability of LGB youths was not confirmed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Follow-up survey of support services for lesbian, gay, and bisexual medical students.

PURPOSE: To replicate and extend a pilot study conducted in 1990 regarding support services for lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) medical students. METHOD: In 1994 the authors surveyed all 320 members of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual People in Medicine, a standing committee of the American Medical Student Association. Chi-square analyses were used to compare responses by subgroups. RESULTS: Responses were received from 185 students (58%) at 92 medical schools. Students who had access to school or community support groups were significantly more likely to disclose their sexual orientation and to know faculty with whom to discuss LGB issues. Nonwhite students were significantly less likely to know faculty with whom to discuss gay-related concerns, to disclose their orientation, and to know of support services. No difference between the academic experiences of lesbians and gay men was reported. Additionally, 115 (62%) of the students reported exposure to anti-gay comments, and 28 (15%) indicated they would not choose to enter the medical field if they were in college today. CONCLUSION: Although the needs of LGB medical students appear to be receiving increased attention (albeit with great variability from school to school), the survey results suggest that more student-faculty liaisons and more support groups are needed, that LGB patient care should be taught more widely, and that all medical students have too little exposure to non-pejorative descriptions of LGB patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Influence of a freshman-year panel presentation on medical students' attitudes toward homosexuality.

PURPOSE: To explore medical students' changes in group attitude toward homosexuality following mid-year exposure as freshmen to a panel presentation on the topic and, later, following clinical experiences. METHOD: At the beginning, middle, and end of 1991-92 and during the psychiatry clerkship in 1993-94, all 186 students in the class of 1995 at the Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans were asked to complete anonymously the Index of Attitudes toward Homosexuals. The two subsequent entering classes were also surveyed, at the beginning and in the middle of their freshman year. RESULTS: Group attitudes among the three consecutive classes were remarkably consistent. The original cohort displayed a decrease in group homophobic attitude over time, with the reduced mean score at mid-year continuing its downward trend at year's end, though rebounding somewhat by the junior year. However, the group mean score remained in the low-grade homophobic category throughout the three-year study. CONCLUSION: That the mean scores of the three classes remained at the low-grade homophobic level suggests the desirability of establishing an ongoing forum to enable students to examine all deeply held beliefs that may affect patient care.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Senior students' evaluations of the usefulness of the Glaxo Pathway Evaluation Program.

PURPOSE: To examine the influence of the Glaxo Pathway Evaluation Program on fourth-year medical students' specialty-choice decisions. METHOD: In February 1992, 274 seniors at three medical schools were asked to complete a 19-item questionnaire regarding their evaluations of the usefulness of the Pathway program in helping them to make their specialty-choice decisions. RESULTS: A total of 237 seniors responded to the survey (though not all responded to all 19 items), indicating that they found the program to be moderately useful. More than half of the students (107 of 207, 51.7%) reported that they had followed the program's decision-making model and found it moderately useful. The students' responses indicated that those components intended to facilitate self-assessment and provide information about the various specialty options were fairly well utilized, i.e., 59.9% of the students had reevaluated the Critical Factors, and 73.6% had compared their individual profiles with the Specialty Profiles, finding both exercises moderately useful. Other follow-up activities had been used variably. CONCLUSION: The students evaluated the program as being moderately useful. The authors conclude that the program is a useful, comprehensive, and reasonably objective tool. Whether students using the program achieve long-term commitment to and satisfaction in their chosen specialties remains to be determined.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

How the topic of homosexuality is taught at U.S. medical schools.

In 1991 the authors surveyed all U.S. medical schools to assess both the number of curriculum hours devoted to the topic of homosexuality and the instructional strategies employed in its academic treatment; responses were sought from faculty with responsibility for teaching the topic (mostly directors of medical student education in psychiatry). Of the 126 schools, 82 (65%) responded. The mean number of hours reported was 3 hours and 26 minutes, with significant differences based on geographic region. The most frequently cited strategy was lectures in human sexuality, followed distantly by panel presentations and meetings with gay men or lesbians (both health care providers and others). To enhance sensitivity and comfort with gay and lesbian issues and to counter stereotypic responses, the authors propose that the topic of homosexuality be wholly integrated throughout the curriculum.

Curriculum↗
PubMed1991

Support services for homosexual students at U.S. medical schools.

This study reports the results of a national survey conducted to assess current programs directed toward gay and lesbian medical students and to identify their perceptions, needs, and wishes. Support services are limited and those that do exist vary on the basis of class size, institutional affiliation, and geographic region. The topic of homosexuality is taught in most medical schools in a circumscribed way. Implications of the findings concern the medical education of all students, irrespective of their sexual orientations.

Attitude↗