scholarly journals What women want: a qualitative analysis of women’s motivation to pursue surgical careers

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 32-39
Author(s):  
Stephanie Atkinson

Objective:  This study was undertaken to explore what motivates women to pursue surgical careers.   Design:  Qualitative methods were employed in this interview-based study.  Interviews were recorded, manually anonymized and transcribed, and thematized using NVivo software.   Setting:  This study was conducted at Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada.    Participants:  Recruitment for this study via email requested volunteers who identified as women and were medical students considering a career in surgery. Recruitment continued until data was saturated.  A total of 8 participants volunteered and were included.   Results: This study revealed five themes associated with women's motivation to pursue surgical careers; mentorship, inherent aspirations, lived experience, and proof of capability, preconceived ideals.  The commonest theme was mentorship.  The women who participated in this study employed unconventional methods when seeking mentorship, some of which are unique to this work.    Conclusions:  The most prevalent factors influencing women's motivation to pursue surgical careers are mentorship, inherent aspirations, participants' lived experience, a desire to prove their capability, and their preconceived ideals about surgery.  All factors were deeply influential over one another.  A greater understanding of these factors may help future researchers and educators create a more fulfilling career for women in surgery. 

2021 ◽  
pp. 000486742098788
Author(s):  
Giles Newton-Howes ◽  
Jessica Senior ◽  
Ben Beaglehole ◽  
Gordon L Purdie ◽  
Sarah E Gordon

Objective: This study sought to investigate the impact of a service user-led anti-stigma and discrimination education programme, encompassing numerous interventions focused on facilitating multiple forms of social contact, the promotion of recovery, and respect for human rights, on medical student attitudes. Method: A comparison cohort study was used to compare the attitudes of two cohorts of medical students who received this programme as part of their fifth (the fifth-year cohort) or sixth (the sixth-year cohort) year psychological medical education attachment (programme cohorts) with two cohorts of equivalent students who received a standard psychological medical attachment (control cohorts). Attitudes to recovery (using the Recovery Attitudes Questionnaire) and stigma (using the Opening Minds Scale for Healthcare Providers) were measured at the beginning and end of the attachments for each year and compared both within and between the cohorts using Wilcoxon signed-rank or Wilcoxon rank-sum tests. Results: With sample sizes ranging from 46 to 70 across all cohorts, after their psychological medicine attachment both the programme and control cohorts showed more positive attitudes towards recovery and less stigmatising attitudes towards people with lived experience of mental distress. Significant differences between the programme cohorts and the control cohorts were found for recovery attitudes (median difference of 2, p < 0.05 in both fifth and sixth year), with particularly large differences being found for the ‘recovery is possible and needs faith’ subdomain of the Recovery Attitudes Questionnaire. There were no significant between cohort differences in terms of stigmatising attitudes as measured by the Opening Minds Scale for Healthcare Providers. Conclusion: The introduction of a comprehensive service user-led anti-stigma and education programme resulted in significant improvements in recovery attitudes compared to a control cohort. However, it was not found to be similarly superior in facilitating less stigmatising attitudes. Various possible reasons for this are discussed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-98
Author(s):  
Naoto Ishimaru ◽  
Ayumi Takayashiki ◽  
Takami Maeno ◽  
Yurika Kawamura ◽  
Sachiko Ozone ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 100589
Author(s):  
Mathieu Levaillant ◽  
Lucie Levaillant ◽  
Nicolas Lerolle ◽  
Benoît Vallet ◽  
Jean-François Hamel-Broza

BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. e039357
Author(s):  
Sara Sorrell ◽  
Halah Ibrahim

ObjectivesMedical school serves as a critical developmental period for future physicians, during which students begin to form a professional identity. Just as personal appearance, particularly clothing, is an important external expression of one’s personal identity, ‘uniforms’ in healthcare, including white coats and scrubs, symbolise status and a group identity. There are, however, limited studies on the impact of physician attire on medical students’ formation of professional identity. Accordingly, through qualitative analysis of written narratives, we sought to analyse medical students’ experiences of wearing professional physician attire, namely scrubs, and how the uniform impacted their confidence level, performance and behaviours, as well as their identity as future physicians.DesignQualitative analysis of medical student’s written narratives.SettingKhalifa University College of Medicine and Health Sciences (KU CMHS) is a new medical school in the United Arab Emirates, with an inaugural class of 30 students admitted in August 2019. It is the only medical school in the city of Abu Dhabi, and the only school in the country that follows a postgraduate medical curriculum.ParticipantsAll first year medical students at KU CMHS were purposively sampled.MethodsStudents completed a voluntary online anonymous questionnaire. We employed a social identity approach to data analysis. Thematic content analysis was conducted on their narratives to identify themes.ResultsWe identified three major themes, namely (1) emotions, (2) logistics and (3) interpersonal relationships.ConclusionsMedical students form early perceptions regarding physician attire and its impact on their professional identity. Engaging in conversations regarding professional attire with educators or mentors could provide an important opportunity for students to discuss and explore professional identity early in training.


Author(s):  
Syaiful Amin ◽  
Suwito Eko Pramono ◽  
Atno ◽  
Ganda Febri Kurniawan

Kota Lama Semarang, also known as Semarang Old Town in Central of Java Province, Indonesia, has the potential to become an inclusive and sustainable tourism destination, in accordance with the Indonesian government’s development plan. However, its potential has not been promoted publicly in the best ways. The aim of this research is to describe and develop a model for promoting inclusive and sustainable tourism in the area. The research applies qualitative methods and takes a descriptive approach. The data were collected using observation and interviews, while data analysis was performed using Creswell's descriptive qualitative analysis. The Sejarah di Dekatku (History Near Us) application (the new model), together with social media promotion, provides an alternative way of promoting tourism. During a trial launch, the application was appreciated by the tourists who used it. The application is considered easy to use and suitable for the needs of the community. It features themes of inclusivity and education, and it is considered important for the promotion of historical areas of Semarang. The advantages of using the application to help develop Kota Lama Semarang tourism are that it is easy to use and navigate, it has attractive features, and it provides easy-to-understand information. Our research suggests that the application should be launched immediately and used as a way of promoting the area. In addition, features and interfaces should be developed further to make the application even more attractive and user-friendly. This can be done by researching and developing the features and the interface of the application to make it more attractive and user-friendly.


Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 1256
Author(s):  
Kasumi Nishikawa ◽  
Ryuichi Ohta ◽  
Chiaki Sano

Although the demand for general physicians has increased in Japan because of its aging population, medical universities primarily provide organ-based education; thus, medical students do not receive sufficient general medical education. The number of residents focusing on general medicine remains low; therefore, to understand the present situation regarding general medicine education, we attempted to clarify the views of medical students and the factors influencing them. In this qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were conducted in 12 medical students at Shimane University, and the results were analyzed through thematic analysis. The results indicated the emergence of three themes and 14 concepts. The three overarching themes were as follows: hopes for the field of general medicine, gaps between ideal and reality of general medicine, and factors affecting students’ motivation for specialization in general medicine. Medical students had a positive impression of general medicine and believed that it has potential for further development; however, they felt a gap between their ideals and reality (i.e., unclear expertise). Factors creating this gap included poorly developed education and medical policies. We need to restructure general medicine education based on the participants’ perceptions by establishing collaborative curricula between universities and community hospitals and by increasing students’ exposure to general medicine.


BJPsych Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (S1) ◽  
pp. S8-S9
Author(s):  
George Blanchard ◽  
Louis Quail ◽  
Grace Yang ◽  
Katherine Terence ◽  
Amisha Kalra ◽  
...  

AimsWe sought to develop a teaching pilot to help year 2 medical students meet the following learning outcomes: Develop a better understanding of patient and carer experiences of mental illness; Recognise and challenge unhelpful attitudes towards people with mental illness; Promote a broader understanding of cultural issues surrounding mental illness, including stigma and discrimination.Method337 medical students were invited to attend a lecture by author LQ, a documentary photographer who presented a narrative of his brother Justin's lived experience of schizophrenia (louisquail.com/big-brother-introduction). 197 students attended the session, which was recorded and made available online. Students were invited to enter a competition to win a signed copy of LQ's book, ‘Big Brother’ and asked to submit either a 500-word written reflective piece, or a creative work accompanied by a 200-word statement. 13 submissions were received, including paintings, drawings, collage, photography, and poetry, all of which were blind rated by authors SR and GB, based on originality and quality of reflection. Of the six shortlisted, three winning entries were chosen by author LQ.ResultAll reflections moved away from a technical understanding of schizophrenia, towards person-centred interpretations, with dominant themes of ‘stigma’, ‘disempowerment’, ‘understanding people as individuals’, ‘subjective experience of mental illness’, ‘inclusion’ and ‘healing power of nature’.The three prize winners (authors GY, AK and KT) used different mediums: GY painted an osprey over a chaotic collage of disordered and stigmatizing words (the osprey representing empowerment and the “reservoir for wellbeing in nature”); AK's sonnet began as an ode to the chaos of Justin's experience, but the concluding lines reframed this struggle, conveying feelings of hope and beauty; and KT's self-portrait, produced with a slow shutter-speed photograph, powerfully conveyed a sense of disorientation and disturbance. She reflected on how the stigma of mental illness affects self-perception. The talk was well-attended, and reflections were of high quality. A limitation of this pilot was that only a small proportion of students completed the reflective assignment.ConclusionInnovative teaching strategies are needed to address negative attitudes towards mental illness and psychiatry, which are prevalent amongst the medical profession. This pilot provides a model for combining carer-led, reflective, and creative elements in undergraduate psychiatry teaching, with the aim of challenging stigma. This model will be evaluated in a further study involving fifth year medical students, which will use a validated scale to measure change in students’ attitudes towards mental illness and psychiatry.


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