Are medical students' views of an ideal physician eroding? A study on perceived qualities of a "role model" doctor before and after housemanship and between two cohorts five years apart

<p><b>INTRODUCTION</b>This study aimed to examine the impact of housemanship and cohort effect on the perceptions of what constitutes a "role model physician" between 2 cohorts of medical students.</p><p><b>MATERIALS & METHODS</b>Final year medical students of the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, from the classes of 2005 (pre- and post-housemanship) and class of 2009 (pre-housemanship) responded to an anonymous 25-statement questionnaire reflecting Fones et al's 25-item characterisation of a "role model" doctor. Qualitative data was also collected on student's perceived qualities of a role model doctor.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>For the 2005 cohort pre- and post-housemanship, only 3 of the 25 items had increased in importance post-housemanship. However, when comparing the 2005 and 2009 cohorts pre-housemanship, the latter cohort placed significantly greater importance on 12 of the 25 items. Willingness to teach was identified via qualitative analysis as a new important quality of a role model doctor for medical students.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The importance placed on characteristics of "role model" physicians were relatively unchanged by housemanship within the same cohort but increased with time between 2 cohorts 5 years apart. This suggests that professional standards of an "ideal" doctor expected and aspired to by medical students may not be eroding as feared by the medical profession and society.</p>