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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Journal of Academic Ophthalmology 2021; 13(02): e158-e162
DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1732346
Research Article

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Personality Types of Ophthalmology Residents

Mohamad Haidar
1   Department of Ophthalmology, Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Athens, Ohio
,
Faisal Ridha
2   Department of Ophthalmology, Kresge Eye Institute, Detroit, Michigan
3   Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan
,
John Ling
4   SoCalEye, Long Beach, California
,
Mashal Akhter
5   Department of Ophthalmology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
,
Laura Kueny
6   ABC Children's Eye Specialists Phoenix, Phoenix, Arizona
,
Osama Sabbagh
7   Department of Ophthalmology, University of Kentucky/Retina Associates of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
,
Chaesik Kim
2   Department of Ophthalmology, Kresge Eye Institute, Detroit, Michigan
,
Katrina Chin Loy
8   Department of Ophthalmology, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, District of Columbia
› Author Affiliations Funding None.
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Abstract

Objective This study attempts to use the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to analyze personality types among current and recent ophthalmology residents. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence rates of each specific personality type in ophthalmology, and whether these changed by level of training, training program, or fellowship selection. The study aimed to evaluate whether certain personality types are more prevalent in ophthalmology as a unique medical specialty. This can help understand specialty choice and potentially predict trends in specialty selection.

Study Design After obtaining institutional review board approval from Howard University Hospital, an electronic version of the MBTI questionnaire, form M, was sent to participants. In addition to the questionnaire, participants responded to four questions inquiring about home program, postgraduate training level, subspecialty interest, and work environment (if applicable). The anonymous responses of the surveys were automatically scored on google forms, and the results were analyzed by using StatView statistical analysis.

Setting This study was conducted at Howard University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, and Kresge Eye Institute.

Participants A total of 66 current residents and recent graduates of five residency programs were involved in this study.

Main Outcomes and Measures This study evaluated four-letter personality type from each participant.

Results Ophthalmology residents were statistically more likely to be identified in the categories of extroversion (E) than introversion (I) (p = 0.049), thinking (T) than feeling (F) (p = 0.027), and judging (J) than perceiving (P) (p = 0.007), with no statistically significant difference between sensing (S) and intuition (N). ENTP, ESTJ, and ISTJ were the most common personality types, each comprising 13.6% of the sample population. The ratio of J:P was found to increase as training level increased, beginning with postgraduate 2nd year until graduate level.

Conclusion Certain personality types are more common among ophthalmology residents in our cohort from five different training programs. It is possible that individual types change over the course of residency training and career. Understanding that these findings exist can be used as a baseline for future research in terms of potential predictors for applicants, of resident knowledge base, and personality changes over the course of one's training.

Keywords

resident - applicant - training program - fellowship - personality - personality inventory - assessment tools - holistic evaluation


Publication History

Received: 16 February 2021

Accepted: 26 April 2021

Article published online:
10 November 2021

© 2021. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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