scholarly journals Reflecting on professional identity in undergraduate medical education: implementation of a novel longitudinal course

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valérie Désilets ◽  
Ann Graillon ◽  
Kathleen Ouellet ◽  
Marianne Xhignesse ◽  
Christina St-Onge
Keyword(s):  
Medical Education ◽  
Identity Development ◽  
Professional Identity ◽  
Undergraduate Medical Education ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
Professional Identity Development ◽  
Rigorous Evaluation ◽  
Reflective Process ◽  
Complex Patients ◽  
Academic Year

Abstract Background Today’s healthcare professionals face numerous challenges. Improving reflection skills has the potential to contribute to the better management of complex patients and healthcare systems, as well as to improve professional practice. However, the question of how reflection skills can inform professional identity development at the undergraduate medical education level remains unanswered. Approach The authors developed and implemented a 4-year course that aims to engage students in a reflective process to increase their awareness of their professional identity development. The course is structured around three types of pedagogical activities: workshops, reflections deposited in an electronic portfolio, and individual discussions with mentors. Evaluation Sixty-four 1st year students (33%) and 17 mentors (50%) from the 2017–2018 cohort completed evaluation questionnaires. For the 2018–2019 academic year, 73 1st year students (34%) and 27 2nd year students (14%), as well as 20 1st year (59%) and 19 2nd year mentors (57%) replied. Students and mentors considered that the pedagogical activities contributed to the development of students’ professional identity through the acquisition of reflection skills, but some elements were perceived as challenging, notably, completing the portfolio, finding a subject to reflect about and the timing of the proposed activities. Reflection An important preoccupation when wanting to foster the development of professional identity through the acquisition of reflection skills is the authenticity of students’ reflection. We tried to favor authentic reflection, by having a mentee-mentor pair throughout the entire 4‑year course. A rigorous evaluation process helped us identify and promptly correct issues as they surfaced.

scholarly journals 'I don't feel like I'm learning how to be a doctor': early insights regarding the impact of Covid-19 on UK medical student professional identity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Harvey ◽  
Megan EL Brown ◽  
Matthew H V Byrne ◽  
Laith Alexander ◽  
Jonathan CM Wan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Medical Education ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Identity Development ◽  
Professional Identity ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Medical Community ◽  
Clinical Environment ◽  
Professional Identity Development ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

Phenomenon Professional identity development is recognised as a core goal of medical education alongside knowledge and skill acquisition. Identity is a complex entity that can be conceptualised as externally influenced, but individually constructed. Integration from legitimate bystander to "old timer" of the medical community of practice provides a backdrop for individual negotiation of professional identity. During Covid-19, the medical community of practice and education experienced significant disruption. We sought to investigate how these disruptions impacted professional identity development by examining conflicts between students' identities highlighted by the pressures of the pandemic. Approach A mixed-methods survey was distributed to medical students in the UK. The survey was active from 2nd May to 15th June 2020, during the height of the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK. Operating within the paradigm of constructivism, we conducted a reflexive thematic analysis of qualitative responses. Analysis was focused around the disruption to medical education, actions taken by medical students during this disruption, and the tension between student actions where they existed in conflict. Findings Three themes were constructed to describe the identities that participants felt were in conflict during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic: Status and role as a future doctor; status and role as a student; and status and role as a member of the wider community. Students noted that lack of clinical exposure was detrimental to their education, implicitly recognising that many aspects of professional identity formation are forged in the clinical environment. Participants were keen to volunteer clinically but struggled to balance this with academic work. Participants worried about the risk to their families and the wider community, and wanted to ensure that their skills would add value to the clinical environment. Volunteers felt frustrated when they were unable to perform tasks which aligned with their identities future doctors, with the exception of participants who worked as interim FY1s (FiY1s), which aligned well with the roles of FY1s. Insights As hypothesised, the participants in this study experienced disruptions to their professional identity development during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. This work provides early evidence, collected at the beginning of the pandemic, that the effects of disruptions to professional identity development were wide-reaching, often negative, and represent an important topic for future exploration. Given that the pandemic has highlighted areas of identity tension, these findings have the potential to provide insight into how medical training can better nurture professional identity development during and beyond international crises.

Teaming as a Mechanism to Promote Professional Identity Development

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 252-259
Author(s):  
Tracey L. Gendron ◽  
E. Ayn Welleford ◽  
Christine Jensen ◽  
Barbara J. Myers
Keyword(s):  
Identity Development ◽  
Professional Identity ◽  
Professional Identity Development

Managerial identity development across the age-spectrum from an ideal self and values perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Udayan Dhar
Keyword(s):  
Identity Development ◽  
Professional Identity ◽  
Personal Values ◽  
Ideal Self ◽  
Professional Identity Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Management Professionals ◽  
Inductive Thematic Analysis ◽  
The Ideal

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate professional identity development among management professionals through the lens of the ideal self and personal values.Design/methodology/approachDetailed career vision essays based on the ideal self and personal values of 48 participants ranging in age from 22 to 54 were analyzed using an inductive thematic analysis. A theory-based classification of their personal values, collected through a survey, was also conducted as a supplemental analysis.FindingsThe visions of older management professionals were less career-oriented, more holistic, involved in a greater multiplicity of career roles, had more clarity and placed higher emphasis on work–life balance and on developing others. The older participants also reported having fewer self-enhancement values.Originality/valueThe findings demonstrate the relevance of the ideal self as a lens to study identity development and advance our understanding of professional identity development in the context of modern careers.

scholarly journals Recognizing and Alleviating Moral Distress Among Obstetrics and Gynecology Residents

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 457-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Aultman ◽  
Rachel Wurzel
Keyword(s):  
Identity Development ◽  
Professional Identity ◽  
Moral Distress ◽  
Residency Education ◽  
Obstetrics And Gynecology ◽  
Professional Identity Development ◽  
Moral Concepts ◽  
Clinical Encounters ◽  
Medical Institutions ◽  
Academic Medical

Abstract Background Obstetrics and gynecology residents face difficult clinical situations and decisions that challenge their moral concepts. Objective We examined how moral and nonmoral judgments about patients are formulated, confirmed, or modified and how moral distress may be alleviated among obstetrics-gynecology residents. Methods Three focus groups, guided by open-ended interview questions, were conducted with 31 obstetrics-gynecology residents from 3 academic medical institutions in northeast Ohio. Each focus group contained 7 to 14 participants and was recorded. Two investigators independently coded and thematically analyzed the transcribed data. Results Our participants struggled with 3 types of patients perceived as difficult: (1) patients with chronic pain, including patients who abuse narcotics; (2) demanding and entitled patients; and (3) irresponsible patients. Difficult clinical encounters with such patients contribute to unalleviated moral distress for residents and negative, and often inaccurate, judgment made about patients. The residents reported that they were able to prevent stigmatizing judgments about patients by keeping an open mind or recognizing the particular needs of patients, but they still felt unresolved moral distress. Conclusions Moral distress that is not addressed in residency education may contribute to career dissatisfaction and ineffective patient care. We recommend education and research on pedagogical approaches in residency education in a model that emphasizes ethics and professional identity development as well as the recognition and alleviation of moral distress.

scholarly journals The Importance of the Community of Practice in Identity Development

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janis Davis
Keyword(s):  
Identity Development ◽  
Occupational Therapy ◽  
Professional Identity ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Professional Relationships ◽  
Professional Identity Development ◽  
Occupational Therapy Students ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Practice Methods ◽  
Cross Case Analysis

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine what processes facilitate, temper, or impede occupational therapy identity development in a community of practice. Methods: A multiple case design organized data collected from five in-depth interviews with occupational therapy students on level II fieldwork. A cross-case analysis was used to arrive at multiple case themes. Results: Themes emerged as responses to participation in a community of practice: a) professional relationships; b) supervision types; and c) responsibility for professional identity development. Results suggest that communities of practice have unique characteristics that either inhibit students from adopting professional identity or draw them closer to the center of the profession. Conclusions: Responsibility for professional identity development lies with both student and community of practice. These findings suggest attention must be paid to the quality of the community of practice if students are to experience a successful trajectory into the profession of occupational therapy.

scholarly journals A Critical Period in Becoming a Teacher: How Novice Teachers Develop Their Professional Identity

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. p66
Author(s):  
Scott Gibbons
Keyword(s):  
Identity Development ◽  
Professional Identity ◽  
Novice Teachers ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Role Identity ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Professional Identity Development ◽  
The Many ◽  
Novice Educators

It is important to understand how teachers develop their professional identity because teacher educators and supervisors can take necessary steps to ensure novice teachers are provided necessary opportunities to cultivate their identity. This article examines research on professional identity development and explains how teachers develop their professional identity and why it is important for mentors to aid in the development process. This article draws on previous research to both define professional identity and explore the many aspects that lead to identity development in novice teachers. Findings suggest that although any experience can contribute to professional identity development, key factors have a major impact on how teachers develop their identity and the role identity development plays in pedagogical thinking. Understanding how professional identity develops can help teacher educators, supervisors, and mentors make available opportunities to build agency among novice educators, helping them to grow into reflective teachers.

scholarly journals Pathways of Professional Identity Development: A Grounded Theory of Female School Principals

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 44
Author(s):  
Lina Baira
Keyword(s):  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Identity Development ◽  
Professional Identity ◽  
Power Distribution ◽  
School Principals ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Social Identification ◽  
Professional Identity Development ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Education Management

This paper examines a female school principal’s perceptions of professional identity development. Recently education management has undergone the process of managerial transformation whereas new requirements and standards have been raised for school principals. Managerial transformations have been influenced by political, economic and cultural factors that (re)shaped school principals’ professional identities. These social identity changes are especially important in the shift of managerial paradigms that evoke challenges in social identification processes. Two major approaches to professional identity include a feminist standpoint and a social construction approach. The former claims that females are underrepresented as leaders in most facets of work life due to gender role stereotypes, prejudices and unequal power distribution. The latter subscribes to the notion that person’s identities are multiple and fluid due to their cultural, historic, and social situatedness. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the pathways of female school principals’ professional identity development. The main research question of this study was how professional identity development is described by female school principals. The study focuses on two in-depth interviews with experienced school principals. The constructivist grounded theory methodology has been applied for the research. Comparative analysis allowed to generate analytic units ranging from small to large and from micro (individual), and meso (organizational) to macro (regional, national or worldwide) levels in disclosing professional identity development process. Fifteen themes comprised the results of the interview research unfolding the essential phenomenon of professional identity development.

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