Comparison of Patient-centeredness Changes between Medical School Graduates and Medical Students after Psychiatric Clerkship

Abstract

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare patient-centeredness changes between medical school graduates and medical students after a psychiatric clinical clerkship. METHODS: We focused on 40 medical school graduates. We received permission to use data from a 2006 study on patient-centeredness of 94 medical students. The following was repeated before and after clerkship: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), Meyers-Briggs type indicator (MBTI), Patient-practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS) and Authoritarian Personality (AP) scale. RESULTS: In the 2006 study on patient-centeredness of medical students, the AP scores were significantly lower than before clerkship and the PPOS scores were significantly higher than before clerkship. AP score changes were related to MBTI, correlated with MMPI subscales, but inversely correlated with PPOS changes. In this study, the change in PPOS scores was not significant after clerkship in case of medical school graduates. AP score changes inversely correlated with PPOS changes, but neither correlated with MMPI subscales or MBTI. CONCLUSION: Considering previous findings, medical school graduates tend to be more patient-centered than medical students, but medical students can adopt a more patient-centered attitude than graduates through a psychiatric clinical clerkship.