Difficulty in Transitioning from Medical Residency to Independent Practice in Pathology
Date
2024-04-26
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Abstract
Transitioning from residency to medical independent medical practice may be a difficult experience for physicians. In this thesis, I explore this issue amongst Canadian Pathologists through an online survey of 118 practicing pathologists and 11 follow-up in-depth one-on-one interviews. Survey results revealed that only 40% of participants reported that they did not experience difficulty transitioning to independent practice. I used a mixed methods approach to determine themes associated with difficulty transitioning. I then developed a psychological traits profile for pathologists based on the Big 5 psychological traits and looked for differences in psychological profiles between individuals who reported difficulty and those who did not. Only minor differences were observed. The biggest predictor of difficulty transitioning was the Royal College specialty with Anatomic Pathologists experiencing significantly more difficulty than General Pathologists. This difference may relate to increased opportunity for graded responsibility in General Pathology residency training programs. Finally, I explored the way pathology residents perceive different forms of feedback and offered recommendations to residency training programs on ways that feedback could be optimized to best support the transition to independent practice.
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Competency-Based Medical Education, Personality, Transition to Independent Medical Practice, Feedback
Citation
Ayala, G. E. (2024). Difficulty in transitioning from medical residency to independent practice in pathology (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.