Choosing Wisely – Resources for Medical Students

Choosing Wisely – Career Resources for Medical Students

presented to TTUHSC AMSA by J.W. Pelley, PhD

November 27, 2001

Choosing your “Grail”

A scene near the end of “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” has Indiana Jones and the bad guy, Colonel Vogel, competing to pick the real Holy Grail (the cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper) from a wide selection of ornate cups. Colonel Vogel mistakenly picks a glittering gold cup “fit for a king” and drinks from it and quickly meets a horrible fate. Indiana picks the “wooden cup of a Galilean carpenter” and emerges the victor. The wisdom was in matching the cup to the type of person who would have used it.

If the selection of grails stand as a metaphor for your choice of a medical specialty, will you choose one that matches you?

A system for choosing a career specialty

§ begins now – never ends

§ decision making process – not a directive from a test or an advisor

§ a thorough, ongoing process – not a quick fix

§ guide to needed information – requires you to do your own research

§ self directed – relies on interpersonal advice and counseling

The role of personality in solving problems

1. What are the data? What information do I need and where is it? (Easiest for sensing types)

2. What options are suggested by the data? (Easiest for intuitive types)

3. What options make the most sense for me? Are some choices illogical? (Easiest for thinking types)

4. What options make the best quality of life for me and/or my family? (Easiest for feeling types)

Web Resources

· AAMC MedCAREERS – this program is being renamed, but it continues to develop as the AAMC is putting additional resources into it. The new name is “Careers in Medicine” and they have hired a “CiM” development manager, Jeanette Calli. She will develop the website into a major resource for students. http://www.aamc.org/medcareers/

Four steps:

1. Self Assessment (yr 1,2&3) – Personality, Financial Situation, Skills, Interests, Environmental Factors

2. Career Exploration (yr 2&3) – Specialty Information: Preview and Research

3. Decision Making (yr 3) – Goal Setting and Clarification

4. Implementation Plan (yr 4) – Clinical Electives, Interviewing, Ranking

· SuccessTypes – contains links to books, websites that provide useful information.

http://www.ttuhsc.edu/som/success/

· A workshop handout that contains a summary of type descriptions

http://www.ttuhsc.edu/SOM/success/educate/studenthandout.pdf

· Contribution of personality to specialty choice

http://www.gesher.org/Myers-Briggs/MBTI%20Chart%20and%20specialty.html

· Articles on personality and medical practice