A comparison of temperament and character among psychiatry, internal medicine, and surgery residents at Iran University of Medical Sciences in the academic year 2013–2014

This study was conducted to compare temperament and character among psychiatry residents, internal medicine, and surgery residents in hospitals affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences in the academic year 2013–2014. Methods: This cross sectional analytical study was conducted on 201 residents using the non-probability method of convenience sampling. Cloninger’s 125-item Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and Maslach’s Burnout Inventory (MBI) were distributed among all the residents in their morning session. Once the questionnaires were completed and submitted, the data were analyzed in SPSS 16. The frequency of different personality traits was analyzed among the selected residents. Results: A total of 49.8% of the respondents were female (n=100) and 50.2% were male (n=101). The results of data analysis showed more novelty seeking, reward dependence, and harm avoidance and less persistence (33.93, p=0.006; 9.00, p=0.056; 32.55, p=0.021; and 2.48, p=0.028, respectively) in psychiatry residents than in surgery residents (31.97, 7.87, 30.74, and 3.12 respectively). Reward dependence was more frequent in internal medicine residents than in surgery residents (9.44 and 7.87 respectively, p=0.002). The self-directedness score was lower in psychiatry residents than in internal medicine residents (p=0.761) and higher than in surgery residents (17.96, 18.30, and 17.57 respectively, p=0.824). The cooperativeness and self-transcendence scores were higher in psychiatry residents than in internal medicine (p=0.943, p=0.199, respectively) and surgery residents (p=0.105, p=0.069 respectively). Conclusion: The different dimensions of personality varied between the surgery, internal medicine, and psychiatry residents. Particularly, this study did not show statistically significant differences in dimensions of character (cooperativeness, self-directedness, and self-transcendence) among surgery, internal medicine, and psychiatry residents. The selection of medical specialties based on character traits significantly contributes to more effective treatment of patients and higher satisfaction of the residents.