DO PERSONALITY DIFFER BETWEEN MEDICAL STUDENTS AND STUDENTS FROM OTHER FACULTIES? AN OBSERVATIONAL STUDY FOR A TAILORED MEDICINE TRAINING PROGRAMME IN THE COVID-19 PERIOD

Abstract

Medical students need specific education and trainingas future physicians potentially entailing a possibly severe burn-out, in particular in emergency situations such as the recent Covid-19 epidemics, with depressive and anxiety symptoms coupled with suboptimal coping skills. This study aims to compare the temperament and character personality traits of a sample of medical students with other students to explore possible characteristicswhich may represent specific targets for different training.Two-hundred and twenty-twostudents from the Schoolof Medicine (MS)and 129 matched students from other faculties (respectively from the Faculty of Humanities –FH- andfrom the Polytechnic Design Faculty -PD) were assessed using the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) in order to explore their personality and depressive scores. Medical students differ from other students in some personality traits. MSshowedlower persistence and self-transcendence than the other groups. MSreportedhigher dependence and self-directedness and responsibility and purposefulness. Future physicians seem to have multifaceted personality aspects: in fact, high self-directedness combined with the need to accomplish others' requests can be both a motivation and a factor of resistance to frustration. On the other hand, an excessive sensitivity to other people's judgment with low persistence may promote burn-out. Implication for medical school programs are discussed