Personality factors as predictors of medical student performance

Personality characteristics were studied among a group of candidates chosen to study medicine in a selection process determined in large part by personal interview ratings. These personality characteristics were examined further with regard to their relation to student performance in an interpersonally community-oriented school of medicine. Seven scales taken from the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) were studied in regard to their relationship to interview ratings, cognitive and clinical performance and an overall rating by a team of teaching staff. 'Dominance', 'Self-acceptance', 'Well-being'., 'Tolerance', 'Responsibility' and 'Achievement via conformance' were found to be significantly, albeit modestly, correlated to interview ratings, while 'Achievement via independence' was not. All seven CPI scales, except Responsibility significantly differentiated between contrasted groups on cognitive examination scores and overall teachers' ratings, but not on clinical ratings. Discriminant analyses suggested that 'Achievement via independence', 'Self-acceptance', 'Dominance' and 'Achievement via conformance' were the best overall predictors of congnitive performance and teaching staff ratings. Implications for selection of training of interpersonally, community-oriented professionals in medicine and allied helping fields are discussed.