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Abstract
Background: Personality traits may also be associated with preference for a particular specialty. However, little is known about the relationship between the surgical career preferences of medical students and their temperament traits. Purposes: The aim of the study was to explore the relationship between surgical or nonsurgical specialties and temperament in 6th-year medical students. Methods: The study included 409 students (283 women, 126 men) of the 6th year at the Medical University of Lodz. The subjects fulfilled a career preference and demographic questionnaire as well as the Formal Characteristics of Behaviour-Temperament Inventory by Zawadzki and Stelau. Results: The surgical specialty was preferred by 30.1% of the students and by 64.5% of the nonsurgical; 5.4% were undecided. The specialty preference of the medical students was associated with temperament traits. An analysis of variance showed differences in Emotional Reactivity, F(1, 380) = 3.888, p =.049, η2 =.01; Endurance, F(1, 380) = 10.973, p =.001, η2 =.028; and Briskness, F(1, 380) = 10.252, p =.001, η2 =.026. Students preferring surgical specialty scored significantly higher on Endurance (M = 11.21, SD = 4.8) and Briskness (M = 16.54, SD = 2.82) scales than students choosing a nonsurgical specialty (M = 9.12, SD = 4.51) and (M = 15.19, SD = 3.21), respectively. Those preferring a surgical specialty scored lower on the Emotional Reactivity (M = 8.91, SD = 4.55) scale than students choosing nonsurgical specialty (M = 10.53, SD = 4.22). Conclusions: The findings suggest that certain temperament traits may be related to preference of surgical or nonsurgical specialties. This knowledge of temperament traits could be a useful tool in helping graduates choose a fulfilling career best suited to their psychological well-being and diagnosing work related issues in the medical profession.