Medical students’ 10 most common professionalism dilemmas reported at least once during the past 12 months
| Question | n (%) of responses | n (and % of gender) for item response; n (%) for item of mode distress rating by gender | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | Male | ||
| Student asked questions by clinical teacher that are unrealistic and beyond level of training*†‡§ | 1260 (52.6) | 894 (55.3); 387 (43.3) Mild | 366 (46.9); 177 (48.4) None |
| Student asked repeated questions by clinical teacher in an intimidating way (eg, ‘grilled’, ‘drilled’)*†‡§ | 1213 (50.6) | 864 (53.5); 349 (40.4) Mild | 349 (44.7); 138 (39.5) None |
| Clinician obtained patient consent for student learning through verbal coercion†§ | 1152 (48.1) | 812 (50.3); 396 (48.8) Mild | 340 (43.5); 230 (67.6) None |
| Clinician talked about a patient inappropriately to student or other person*†‡ | 1080 (45.1) | 773 (47.8); 387 (50.1) Mild | 307 (39.3); 155 (50.5) Mild |
| Student been subjected to a patient criticising a clinical colleague (eg, doctor, nurse etc.)*† | 1003 (41.8) | 711 (44.0); 348 (48.9) Mild | 292 (37.4); 152 (52.1) None |
| Clinician asked student to instigate unnecessary patient discomfort for students’ learning needs†‡¶ | 886 (37.0) | 440 (27.2); 240 (54.5) Mild | 229 (29.3); 119 (52) Mild |
| Student felt excluded from learning opportunity (eg, patient care) by clinical teacher*†‡ | 878 (36.6) | 645 (39.9); 332 (51.5) Mild | 233 (29.8); 101 (43.3) Mild |
| Student witnessed clinicians compromising patient safety (poor hygiene)†‡§ | 869 (36.2) | 622 (38.5); 348 (55.9) Mild | 247 (31.6); 115 (46.6) Mild |
| Clinician coerced patient consent for student learning by misrepresenting student identity†‡§ | 864 (36.0) | 598 (37.0); 303 (50.7) Mild | 266 (34.1); 124 (46.6) None |
| Student subjected to a doctor criticising a clinical colleague (eg, nurse, another doctor etc)† | 863 (36.0) | 607 (37.6); 292 (48.1) Mild | 256 (32.8); 136 (53.1) None |
Number of responses based on participants indicating this had happened, distress responses were lower as some omitted to answer this part of the question.
*These 5 items also fall within the top 10 most reported events by other healthcare students in table 2.
†Significant effect of gender on moral distress.
‡Significant effect of frequency on moral distress.
§Also in the top three most frequently reported patient-focused or student-focused dilemmas (reported occurring 6+ times over the past year).
¶Contributed to ‘Habituation’ effect (all others with effect of frequency=Disturbance).