Personality traits of surgical house officers: faculty and resident views

Resident evaluation is highly subjective and continues to be a problem. Personality traits and characteristics account for 28% of factors considered; deficits in this area account for 22% of advanced residency terminations. Sixty-four faculty members and 51 residents in six university surgical departments were surveyed to determine differences in the perceived importance of 35 traits on a standard assertiveness scale. Each respondent was asked to score the importance of the traits on an unstructured list. Factors were then ranked in order of increasing mean score by group and compared. Traits with the lowest mean scores and least variance for both groups, indicating agreement, were: admits error, is well disciplined, considers all facts, is highly motivated and consistent, and listens. These are self-sufficiency and "internal discipline" traits. Nineteen of 35 traits had a mean score of 2.00 or less. For some general personality traits (e.g., decisiveness, fairness, good team participation, flexibility) there is excellent score and rank agreement, while others prompted disagreement (e.g., priority setting, independence, purposefulness). The correlation disagreement (e.g., priority setting, independence, purposefulness). The correlation between faculty and resident scores (r = 0.94) for all traits is excellent. "Independence" scored the greatest disagreement; residents ranked it 7 and faculty ranked it 14. Faculty and residents perceive similar traits as important and agree on their significance. Faculty select "like personalities" for their programs, supporting the notion of a "surgical personality." This personality is assertive in a positive manner.