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Cited by 668Innovations in Medical EducationEmpathy and Medical EducationCompetency Development and Evaluation

Competency Is Not Enough: Integrating Identity Formation Into the Medical Education Discourse

Jarvis-Selinger, Sandra, Pratt, Daniel D., Regehr, Glenn·2012·Academic Medicine
DOI 10.1097/acm.0b013e3182604968
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Abstract

Despite the widespread implementation of competency-based medical education, there are growing concerns that generally focus on the translation of physician roles into "measurable competencies." By breaking medical training into small, discrete, measurable tasks, it is argued, the medical education community may have emphasized too heavily questions of assessment, thereby missing the underlying meaning and interconnectedness of how physician roles shape future physicians. To address these concerns, the authors argue that an expanded approach be taken that includes a focus on professional identity development. The authors provide a conceptual analysis of the issues and language related to a broader focus on understanding the relationship between the development of competency and the formation of identities during medical training. Including identity alongside competency allows a reframing of approaches to medical education away from an exclusive focus on "doing the work of a physician" toward a broader focus that also includes "being a physician." The authors consider the salient literature on identity that can inform this expanded perspective about medical education and training.

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  • Critical reflection on emerging professional identities during training has helped medical residents recognize their particular roles and responsibilities in hospitals.

    “Several studies have suggested that a critical reflection on their emerging professional identities during their training has helped medical residents to recognize their particular roles and responsibilities in hospitals, where working conditions are complex (Jarvis-Selinger, Pratt and Regehr 2012).”

    From Science education reform in Confucian learning cultures: teachers' perspectives on policy and practice in Taiwan (2018) · cites this paper as Jarvis-Selinger, Pratt and Regehr 2012

  • Medical trainees have a narrowly defined, superficial understanding of what it means to be a doctor.

    “Jarvis-Selinger and colleagues, 17 using developmental theory as a foundation for describing identity formation, reported that medical trainees do not have a deep understanding of what it actually means to be a doctor; theirs is a 'narrowly defined, superficial understanding'.17”

    From What is appropriate to post on social media? <scp>R</scp> atings from students, faculty members and the public (2014) · cites this paper as [17]

  • Early medical students understand professionalism differently from doctors because their developmental stage differs.

    “Medical students, particularly early on, do not view professionalism in the same way that doctors do, because they are at a very different stage of development.”

    From What is appropriate to post on social media? <scp>R</scp> atings from students, faculty members and the public (2014) · cites this paper as [17]

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Authors
Jarvis-Selinger, S., Pratt, D. D., & Regehr, G.
Affiliations
University of British Columbia (CA)
Corresponding author
Jarvis-Selinger, Sandra
ORCID
Venue
Academic Medicine
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2012-09
Volume
87
Issue
9
Pages
1185-1190
ISSN
1040-2446 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1097/acm.0b013e3182604968
OpenAlex
W2315413233
Cited by
668
References
37
Citations by year
2026: 90 · 2025: 69 · 2024: 53 · 2023: 59 · 2022: 65 · 2021: 51 · 2020: 49 · 2019: 40 · 2018: 47 · 2017: 36 · 2016: 41 · 2015: 27 · 2014: 29 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 4
FWCI
21.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Academic Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Innovations in Medical Education
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Empathy and Medical Education
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Competency Development and Evaluation
Keywords
competency-based medical education, professional identity formation, physician identity, medical training, medical education assessment, medical professionalism, identity construction
MeSH terms
Clinical Competence, Education, Medical, Graduate, Education, Medical, Undergraduate, Humans, Physician's Role, Social Identification, Sociology, Medical

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