TY  - JOUR
AU  - Tobiaszewska, Małgorzata
AU  - Koweszko, Tytus
AU  - Jurek, Jonasz
AU  - Mikołap, Karolina
AU  - Gierus, Jacek
AU  - Mikulski, Jantoni
AU  - Waszkiewicz, Napoleon
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/12/31
TI  - Personality Types of Medical Students in Terms of Their Choice of Medical Specialty: Cross-Sectional Study
JO  - Interact J Med Res
SP  - e60223
VL  - 13
KW  - personality type
KW  - characteristics
KW  - traits
KW  - psychology
KW  - psychometric
KW  - medical students
KW  - university
KW  - burnout
KW  - gender
KW  - preferences
KW  - professional
KW  - job
KW  - career
KW  - specialty
KW  - survey
KW  - questionnaire
AB  - Background: Research on personality types among doctors reveals its impact on medical specialty choices, suggesting that considering personality in career planning may enhance work satisfaction and reduce burnout risks. Objective: This study, encompassing 2104 medical students, explores how personality types, traits, and gender relate to specialty preferences. Methods: Participants of this study were medical students from various universities in Poland. The study surveyed 2104 participants. Each participant completed a general questionnaire and a NERIS Type Explorer personality test, based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator inventory and the “Big Five” personality traits concept. The questionnaire was distributed on social media groups for medical students from all Polish universities. An exploratory statistical analysis was performed to find relationships. For each tested relationship a Fisher exact test was conducted and the significance level was P<.05. Each test resulted in a P value and odds ratio (OR) with a CI. To ensure we included undecided students and obtained meaningful data, we allowed participants to select up to three medical specialties from the 77 available in Poland at the time of the study. Results: The findings unveil significant relationships between gender, personality types, traits, and specialty preferences. Women tended to favor Neonatology (OR 9.15, 95% CI 3.02-45.46), while men leaned toward Orthopedics and traumatology of the locomotor system (OR 7.53, 95% CI 4.87-11.94). Extroverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Prospecting, and Turbulent students showed a heightened interest in Psychiatry (OR 2.23, 95% CI 1.64-3.01), whereas Introverted, Observant, Feeling, Judging, and Turbulent types favored Family Medicine (OR 2.98, 95% CI 2.08-4.24) and Pediatrics (OR 2.13, 95% CI 1.51-2.99). Conclusions: In conclusion, this research establishes a link between personality and medical specialty selection. Taking into account the significant role of personality traits, it should be considered to integrate them into the process of selecting a medical career or designing a medical curriculum. This approach may allow for the customization of programs to match students’ traits, thereby cultivating improved clinical communication skills, fostering interprofessional collaboration and ultimately enhancing treatment outcomes and professional fulfillment among physicians. The main limitation of this study is that it was conducted on medical students, who lack the full knowledge of the work as a specific specialist. A study surveying medical doctors with longer internships across different wards could be conducted to check for any variabilities. Moreover, there are other significant factors that influence one’s medical specialty choice. Certainly, this area could be further explored. 
SN  - 1929-073X
UR  - https://www.i-jmr.org/2024/1/e60223
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/60223
DO  - 10.2196/60223
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/60223
ER  -