Aspects of differential role perception of Israeli medical school students

Attitudes of first year Israeli Medical School students are investigated using the Semantic Differential technique to differentiate their perceptions of the roles of doctor, patient and the mentally ill. Students also selected from among thirty-four behavioural traits those roles considered most characteristic of doctor and/or patient. A high degree of certainty and of role stereotyping is found of doctor image. This may be associated with past experiences as child-patient, with idealizations and identifications and with future aspirations. There is less consensus with the role of patient but there are clear attitudinal boundaries among students between roles. The doctor is perceived as an idealized, if authoritarian, person meeting with a rather negatively but more flexibly perceived person of the patient. Behavioural traits selected by the students are consonant with this finding. The results are discussed in the context of identification patterns and the educational process.