Is perfect good? – Dimensions of perfectionism in newly admitted medical students

Abstract

BackgroundSociety expects physicians to perform perfectly but high levels of perfectionism are associated with symptoms of distress in medical students. This study investigated whether medical students admitted to medical school by different selection criteria differ in the occurrence of perfectionism.MethodsNewly enrolled undergraduate medical students (n = 358) filled out the following instruments: Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS-H), Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS-F), Big Five Inventory (BFI-10), General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE), Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7). Sociodemographic data such as age, gender, high school degrees, and the way of admission to medical school were also included in the questionnaire.ResultsThe 298 participating students had significantly lower scores in Socially-Prescribed Perfectionism than the general population independently of their way of admission to medical school. Students who were selected for medical school by their high school degree showed the highest score for Adaptive Perfectionism. Maladaptive Perfectionism was the strongest predictor for the occurrence symptoms of depression and anxiety regardless of the way of admission.ConclusionsStudents from all admission groups should be observed longitudinally for performance and to assess whether perfectionism questionnaires might be an additional useful instrument for medical school admission processes.

Longitudinal development of different dimensions of perfectionism in undergraduate medical students with respect to their medical school admission procedure

“…Students could participate if they had been enrolled for undergraduate medical studies at the University of Hamburg and if they participated in the orientation week and received the information about the study. A total of 298 students (189 female, 108 male) participated (response rate 83.2% at t1) [3]. All 358 students were invited again at midterm of their second year after a lecture to fill out the same questionnaire in January 2018.…”

“…Such developments need to be detected as early as possible during undergraduate medical education and medical schools might wish to select students who will be able to keep the balance between working as perfect as possible without becoming seriously distressed. We found significant differences with respect to certain aspects of perfectionism in medical students who gained entry to medical school via different admission processes [3]. It has been shown that high scores for perfectionism are associated with psychiatric levels of distress in medical students [4] and that medical students show, for example, higher values in the perfectionism scale Personal Standards compared to arts students [5].…”

“…Students who were selected for undergraduate medical education by their high school degree showed high scores for Adaptive Perfectionism, which is associated with intrinsic motivation [3]. Maladaptive Perfectionism, which relates strongly to standards set externally, was the strongest predictor for symptoms of depression in newly admitted medical students [3].…”

“…Maladaptive Perfectionism, which relates strongly to standards set externally, was the strongest predictor for symptoms of depression in newly admitted medical students [3]. Medical educators should be able to select the type of students who will be able to keep the balance between being motivated and working as perfect as possible without becoming seriously distressed.…”

“…Furthermore, certain types of perfectionism, especially Socially-Oriented Perfectionism (SOP) have been shown to be significantly positively correlated with university students’ motivation and with adaptive learning strategies [14]. We were able to identify that medical students who were selected by different admission procedures show differences in the expression of certain dimensions of perfectionism at the beginning of the first year [3]. Therefore, the aim of this follow-up study was to gain insights into the development of different dimensions of perfectionism during the longitudinal course of the first two years at medical school.…”