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Personality Profiles and Under-Pressure Behavioral Patterns in Surgical Trainees and Faculty: Implications for
Rebecca E Glavin1, Brian P Scannell2, Benjamin P Shore3
1Advocate Health Musculoskeletal Institute, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Charlotte, NC.
The American Surgeon
|February 10, 2026
Summary
Surgeons
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Psychology
- Leadership Studies
Background:
- Personality assessments are underutilized in surgical education.
- Leadership potential and team performance can be enhanced by understanding personality profiles.
- This study aims to compare surgeons' personalities with other healthcare professionals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate surgeons' personality profiles using the PRISM assessment.
- To compare these profiles with a normative cohort of healthcare professionals.
- To inform the design of leadership development curricula for surgical training.
Main Methods:
- 199 surgeons (residents, fellows, faculty) completed the PRISM assessment.
- Data were compared to a normative cohort of 5887 healthcare professionals.
- Primary and under-pressure profiles were analyzed using chi-square and Fisher's exact tests.
Main Results:
- No significant differences in primary personality profiles between surgeons and other healthcare professionals.
- Surgeons showed a higher proportion of 'Navigator' type under pressure (22% vs 14%; P = .05).
- This indicates a tendency towards decisiveness and structure in stressful conditions.
Conclusions:
- Surgeons' baseline personalities are similar to other healthcare professionals.
- Under stress, surgeons exhibit a unique shift towards structured, action-oriented responses.
- Integrating personality assessments like PRISM can enhance self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and team performance in surgical leadership development.
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