Different but Similar: Personality Traits of Surgeons and Internists

Aims: Medical practice may attract and possibly enhance distinct personality profiles. It was our objective to describe the personality profiles of surgical and medical specialties focusing on board-certified physicians.

Methods: A sample of 2,345 board-certified physicians, 1,453 residents, and 1,350 medical students in several European countries and Canada filled out the Ten-Item Personality Inventory, an internationally validated measure of the Five Factor Model of personality dimensions. Differences in personality profiles were analyzed using MANOVA and discriminant function analysis on age- and sex-standardized z-scores of the personality traits. Single personality traits were analyzed using robust t-tests.

Results: Normal population and board-certified physicians’ personality profiles differed. The latter scored higher on conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness, but lower on neuroticism. There was no difference in openness to experience. Board-certified surgical and medical doctors’ personality profiles were also different. Surgeons scored higher on extraversion and openness to experience, but lower on neuroticism. There was no difference in agreeableness and conscientiousness. These differences in personality profiles were reproduced at other levels of training, that is, in students and training physicians engaging into surgical versus medical practice.

Conclusion: These results indicate the existence of a distinct and consistent average “physician personality.” Despite high variability within disciplines, there are moderate, but solid and reproducible differences between surgical and medical specialties.