PMID- 33149092
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20210819
LR  - 20230717
IS  - 1938-808X (Electronic)
IS  - 1040-2446 (Linking)
VI  - 96
IP  - 7
DP  - 2021 Jul 1
TI  - Tolerance for Ambiguity Among Medical Students: Patterns of Change During Medical 
      School and Their Implications for Professional Development.
PG  - 1036-1042
LID - 10.1097/ACM.0000000000003820 [doi]
AB  - PURPOSE: Tolerance for ambiguity (TFA) is important for physicians, with 
      implications for ethical behavior and patient care. This study explores how 
      medical students' TFA changes from matriculation to graduation and how change in 
      empathy and openness to diversity are associated with this change. METHOD: Data 
      for students who took the Matriculating Student Questionnaire (MSQ) in 2013 or 
      2014 and the Medical School Graduation Questionnaire (GQ) in 2017 or 2018 were 
      drawn from the Association of American Medical Colleges (n = 17,221). Both the 
      MSQ and GQ included a validated TFA scale and a shortened version of the 
      Interpersonal Reactivity Index; the MSQ also included an openness to diversity 
      scale. Tercile groups were used to assess how TFA changed from the MSQ to GQ, and 
      regression analyses were used to assess associations between change in TFA and 
      openness to diversity and between change in TFA and change in empathy. RESULTS: 
      Mean TFA scores decreased (d = -.67) among students with the highest TFA at 
      matriculation but increased (d = .60) among students with the lowest TFA at 
      matriculation. Regression results showed that change in TFA was significantly and 
      positively associated with change in empathy (beta = .05, P < .001) and that 
      openness to diversity (as reported at matriculation) was significantly and 
      positively associated with TFA at graduation (beta = .05, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: 
      This is the first nationally representative study to suggest that medical 
      students' TFA changes over time, but in different directions depending on TFA at 
      matriculation. TFA over time was also associated with change in empathy and 
      openness to diversity. Medical schools should consider strategies to assess TFA 
      in their admissions processes and for cultivating TFA throughout the learning 
      process.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2020 by the Association of American Medical Colleges.
FAU - Geller, Gail
AU  - Geller G
AD  - G. Geller is professor, Johns Hopkins University Berman Institute of Bioethics, 
      School of Medicine, Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Department of 
      Sociology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland; ORCID: 
      https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4856-1942 .
FAU - Grbic, Douglas
AU  - Grbic D
AD  - D. Grbic is lead research analyst, Medical Education, Association of American 
      Medical Colleges, Washington, DC.
FAU - Andolsek, Kathyrn M
AU  - Andolsek KM
AD  - K.M. Andolsek is professor of family medicine and community health, Duke 
      University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina.
FAU - Caulfield, Marie
AU  - Caulfield M
AD  - M. Caulfield is manager of applicant, student, and resident data, Data Operations 
      and Services, Association of American Medical Colleges, Washington, DC.
FAU - Roskovensky, Lindsay
AU  - Roskovensky L
AD  - L. Roskovensky is lead research and data analyst, Data Operations and Services, 
      Association of American Medical Colleges, Washington, DC.
LA  - eng
PT  - Comparative Study
PT  - Journal Article
PL  - United States
TA  - Acad Med
JT  - Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges
JID - 8904605
SB  - IM
MH  - Adaptation, Psychological/physiology
MH  - Adult
MH  - Career Choice
MH  - Cultural Diversity
MH  - Empathy/*ethics
MH  - Ethnicity/statistics & numerical data
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - Interpersonal Relations
MH  - Learning
MH  - Male
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Patient Care/*ethics
MH  - Professional Role/psychology
MH  - Regression Analysis
MH  - Reproducibility of Results
MH  - Schools, Medical/*statistics & numerical data/trends
MH  - Students, Medical/*statistics & numerical data
MH  - Surveys and Questionnaires/*statistics & numerical data
EDAT- 2020/11/06 06:00
MHDA- 2021/08/20 06:00
CRDT- 2020/11/05 05:59
PHST- 2020/11/06 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2021/08/20 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2020/11/05 05:59 [entrez]
AID - 00001888-202107000-00051 [pii]
AID - 10.1097/ACM.0000000000003820 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Acad Med. 2021 Jul 1;96(7):1036-1042. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000003820.