Competence is Essential but not Sufficient

Abstract

Physician loneliness is on the rise, negatively impacting physician well-being and patient care. Some authors have suggested that addressing professional loneliness should begin in medical school. To test this idea, we investigated how medical students’ psychological needs impact their performance. Students’ survey responses (autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs) were linked with their clinical decision-making scores. In regression analysis, relatedness was determined to be the largest and the only significant predictor of student performance. The findings corroborate the idea of fostering relatedness in medical training. Determining what strategies support relatedness and connection in the digital era is the next logical step.