TY - JOUR
T1 - "To obey or not to obey" - Medical students' response towards professional dilemmas in a hierarchical and collectivist culture
AU - Soemantri, Diantha
AU - Greviana, Nadia
AU - Findyartini, Ardi
AU - Azzahra, Tiara Berliana
AU - Suryoadji, Kemal Akbar
AU - Mustika, Rita
AU - Felaza, Estivana
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Soemantri et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2021/12
Y1 - 2021/12
N2 - Background Clinical clerkship programme in medical schools were developed to provide students with direct interactions with patients and observe clinical teachers in practice. However, professional dilemmas are prone to occur due to the nature of experiential learning. Several studies across different cultures showed that medical students responded differently towards professional dilemma. Aims This study aims to explore how medical students respond to professional dilemmas occurred during their clinical clerkships and to what extent culture influences the responses. Method A qualitative descriptive approach was used in this study. We conducted four focus group discussions with final year medical students who were selected using maximum variety sampling method. Thematic analysis was conducted following the transcription of the focus groups. Results We identified the impact of dilemmas on students' emotions and concerns, students' responses towards professional dilemmas, and factors affecting responses to dilemmas in clinical clerkship, which confirmed that cultures played roles in how students responded towards professional dilemmas. Conclusion This study has identified that culture, to some extent, influenced the way students responded to professional dilemmas. Therefore, it is paramount to develop a conducive and culturally sensitive educational environment and students' ability to learn from professional dilemma experienced in the workplace for developing their professional identity.
AB - Background Clinical clerkship programme in medical schools were developed to provide students with direct interactions with patients and observe clinical teachers in practice. However, professional dilemmas are prone to occur due to the nature of experiential learning. Several studies across different cultures showed that medical students responded differently towards professional dilemma. Aims This study aims to explore how medical students respond to professional dilemmas occurred during their clinical clerkships and to what extent culture influences the responses. Method A qualitative descriptive approach was used in this study. We conducted four focus group discussions with final year medical students who were selected using maximum variety sampling method. Thematic analysis was conducted following the transcription of the focus groups. Results We identified the impact of dilemmas on students' emotions and concerns, students' responses towards professional dilemmas, and factors affecting responses to dilemmas in clinical clerkship, which confirmed that cultures played roles in how students responded towards professional dilemmas. Conclusion This study has identified that culture, to some extent, influenced the way students responded to professional dilemmas. Therefore, it is paramount to develop a conducive and culturally sensitive educational environment and students' ability to learn from professional dilemma experienced in the workplace for developing their professional identity.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85122028276&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0261828
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0261828
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85122028276
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 16
JO - PloS one
JF - PloS one
IS - 12 December
M1 - e0261828
ER -
