Personality Testing May Identify Applicants Who Will Become Successful in General Surgery Residency

Abstract

Introduction Identification of successful general surgical residents remains a challenging endeavor for program directors (PD) with a national attrition of approximately 20% per year. The Big 5 Personality traits and the Grit Scale have been extensively studied in many industries and certain traits are associated with professional or academic success. However, their utility in surgery resident selection is unknown. Methods We performed a retrospective review of all categorical surgery residents (n=34) at the University of Texas Medical Branch from 2015–2017. Current residents were classified into low performing (n=12) or non-low performing (n=22) based on residency performance and standardized test scores. Groups were assessed for differences in both conventional metrics used for selection and Big 5 and Grit Scores using bivariate analysis and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Personality testing was administered to recent resident applicants (N=81). Applicants were ranked using conventional application information. We then examined the applicants’ personalities and their rank position with personality characteristics of non-low performing residents to determine if there was any correlation. Results The Big 5 personality test identified significantly higher extroversion, conscientiousness, and emotional stability scores in those residents classified as non-low performers. There was no significant difference in conventional metrics or in grit scores between non-low performers and low performers. Our final rank does not correlate well with personality traits of non-low performers. Conclusions The Big 5 test may prove to be a useful adjunct to the traditional residency application in identifying applicants who may become successful in general surgery residency.

Association Between HEXACO Personality Traits and Medical Specialty Preferences in Mexican Medical Students

“…The students in our study who had a preference for surgical specialties could be described as less modest, more extroverted, more diligent, more organized, and overall less emotional, than their clinical counterparts. Hughes et al (6) analyzed the association of BFM scores with performance in surgical specialties. They found that higher scores for the extroversion, conscientiousness, and emotional stability scales could predict better performance during surgical training.…”

“…Few studies have assessed the personality traits of medical personnel or medical students (6,14) . In the present study, we aimed to identify any associations between the HEXACO personality traits and the medical students' preferred specialty.…”

“…There are only a small number of studies using the HEXACO personality inventory to assess the personality traits of physicians or medical students (6,14). We encourage more researchers to use this inventory because it complements the traits usually assessed by the BFM, and in addition evaluates honesty and humility, which could prove to be of great importance for further dissection of the personalities of future and practicing physicians.…”

The Ten Commandments of the Residency Interview

“…The type of interview may vary from program to program. 3,4 With the understanding that interviews may be structured (the person or team conducting the interview utilizes a standardized set of questions that focuses on the candidate's experiences and abilities) or unstructured (the approach is more conversational and unscripted), and the caveat that criteria defining an outstanding interview are entirely subjective, we believe that adherence to this list of "Ten Commandments" for the interviewee would be advantageous for most applicants.…”

Association between HEXACO personality traits and medical specialty preferences in Mexican medical students: a cross-sectional survey

“…The FFM suggests that the human personality and behavior could be explained by the exploration of five factors: Openness to Experience/intellect, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (also known as emotional stability) [7,8]. Over the years, several measurement tools have been proposed for personality studies using the FFM, such as the Zuckerman-Kuhlman personality questionnaire [5,9], the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (Revised) [10], the Big Five Inventory [11][12][13], and finally the NEO Personality Inventory [14][15][16]. These inventories analyze the five factors and their underlying facets and provide an interpretation of human nature.…”