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UBC Theses and Dissertations

A stage in the making of a physician Chang, Yunshik

Abstract

The process of the socialization of first year medical students is analyzed according to a paradigm of adult socialization. This paradigm consists of three sets of variables, that is, independent variable (I), personal background characteristics, independent variable (II), elements of interpersonal relation in which students are involved, and dependent variable, the cultural content of socialization. The study shows (a) that during the first year the medical students tend to think of the first year as the least important period for their later career. Besides being least important, the first year appears to be the most difficult. They also feel hard pressed for time-- there seems to be too much to learn for the time allowed. However, they expect that as they go through medical school, their training will be less difficult. A majority of them find themselves very much involved in the competition among themselves. Their attitudes towards this are rather neutral. They express satisfaction with their faculty members in the given direction in their studies. (b) In the assessment of their performance during their training, a majority of the students classify themselves as average, the reference point of which is largely found in themselves rather than in their fellow students, or in the opinion of the faculty members. (c) With regard to their attitudes and values; students tend to hold the initial values which they had on entering medical school, namely, "people-orientation." No student thinks of himself as a doctor in The first year, in fact, from the beginning he did not expect to establish his professional self-image in the first year. On the other hand, the outline of the image of physician which emerged on entry into medical school remains almost the same at the end of the year with only a slight modification. The image is characterized primarily by personality traits, and a task-oriented emphasis. As the year comes to an end, a substantial proportion of students tend to specify themselves as preferring general practice as their later career. This was not chosen by anyone at the beginning of the year. Their expected income differs little from the actual current income of physicians. They tend to express more satisfaction with their chosen career as they progress through the first year.

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