Developing the Good Physician: The Influence of Role Models in the Development of Virtues and Flourishing in Medical Students.

Abstract

Objectives: A virtues-based model of character development for training future physicians may lead to increased flourishing in medical students through the influence of exemplary role models. This study aimed to analyze the association between caring virtues and measures of flourishing and to identify facilitators of physician flourishing.

Methods: The authors used data from a 2011 nationally representative sample of 605 US medical students in which caring virtues (mindfulness, empathic compassion, and generosity) were measured using scales at two time points during the students' clinical years. Hypothesizing a mediated influence of role models in students' generosity and flourishing, the authors explored the interrelationship between measures of mindfulness, empathic compassion, and generosity, using latent variables within a structural equation model. Built into the model were paths to determine mechanisms by which virtues and flourishing are facilitated and/or inhibited.

Results: Analyses supported the interrelationship between physician-specific measures of mindfulness, empathic compassion, and generosity. Findings were generally consistent with the hypothesized direction of relationships between these virtues of medical care and the effect of role models on student generosity and sense of calling. Experiences of positive character feedback from a supervisor did not directly predict the generous behavior of medical students as hypothesized, but there appeared to be an indirect effect on generosity through increased vocational satisfaction. When moral elevation was added to the structural model, data offered further support for mentors inspiring caring behavior. Findings from this study provide continued evidence in support of a virtues-based model of character education in medicine that theorizes the influence of role modeling on virtues development and flourishing, including evidence for moral elevation as a potential psychological mechanism.

Conclusions: Medical schools may consider adopting a virtues-based model of character education in which supervisors are selected based on their capacity to exemplify virtuous care in their professional life.