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Junior doctors' experiences of the medical internship: a qualitative study

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to explore medical interns' experiences of medical internships. METHODS: Situated in an interpretivist paradigm, a qualitative study was carried out to explore medical interns' experiences of the internship. Invitations to participate were sent via email to med...

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Autores principales: Carlsson, Yvonne, Nilsdotter, Anna, Bergman, Stefan, Liljedahl, Matilda
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: IJME 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9017508/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35321942
http://dx.doi.org/10.5116/ijme.6229.d795
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author Carlsson, Yvonne
Nilsdotter, Anna
Bergman, Stefan
Liljedahl, Matilda
author_facet Carlsson, Yvonne
Nilsdotter, Anna
Bergman, Stefan
Liljedahl, Matilda
author_sort Carlsson, Yvonne
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to explore medical interns' experiences of medical internships. METHODS: Situated in an interpretivist paradigm, a qualitative study was carried out to explore medical interns' experiences of the internship. Invitations to participate were sent via email to medical interns currently in their last six months of internship. The first ones to respond were included. The study sample comprised twelve participants, of whom seven were women. Data were collected through individual, semi-structured and in-depth interviews with volunteering medical interns from three different hospital sites. Data were transcribed verbatim and analysed through qualitative content analysis, generating overarching themes. RESULTS: Four main themes were identified in our data. The interns felt increasingly comfortable as doctors ('finding one's feet') by taking responsibility for patients while receiving necessary help and assistance ('a doctor with support'). Although appreciative of getting an overview of the healthcare organisation ('healthcare sightseeing'), interns were exhausted by repeatedly changing workplaces and felt stuck in a rigid framework ('stuck at the zoo'). CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to previous studies, this study shows that the transition from medical school to clinical work as a professional does not necessarily have to be characterised by stress and mental exhaustion but can, with extensive support, provide a fruitful opportunity for medical interns to grow into their roles as doctors. However, there is still unutilised potential for the medical internship to act as a powerful catalyser for learning, which educators and programme directors need to consider.
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spelling pubmed-90175082022-04-28 Junior doctors' experiences of the medical internship: a qualitative study Carlsson, Yvonne Nilsdotter, Anna Bergman, Stefan Liljedahl, Matilda Int J Med Educ Original Research OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to explore medical interns' experiences of medical internships. METHODS: Situated in an interpretivist paradigm, a qualitative study was carried out to explore medical interns' experiences of the internship. Invitations to participate were sent via email to medical interns currently in their last six months of internship. The first ones to respond were included. The study sample comprised twelve participants, of whom seven were women. Data were collected through individual, semi-structured and in-depth interviews with volunteering medical interns from three different hospital sites. Data were transcribed verbatim and analysed through qualitative content analysis, generating overarching themes. RESULTS: Four main themes were identified in our data. The interns felt increasingly comfortable as doctors ('finding one's feet') by taking responsibility for patients while receiving necessary help and assistance ('a doctor with support'). Although appreciative of getting an overview of the healthcare organisation ('healthcare sightseeing'), interns were exhausted by repeatedly changing workplaces and felt stuck in a rigid framework ('stuck at the zoo'). CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to previous studies, this study shows that the transition from medical school to clinical work as a professional does not necessarily have to be characterised by stress and mental exhaustion but can, with extensive support, provide a fruitful opportunity for medical interns to grow into their roles as doctors. However, there is still unutilised potential for the medical internship to act as a powerful catalyser for learning, which educators and programme directors need to consider. IJME 2022-03-23 /pmc/articles/PMC9017508/ /pubmed/35321942 http://dx.doi.org/10.5116/ijme.6229.d795 Text en Copyright: © 2022 Yvonne Carlsson et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use of work provided the original work is properly cited. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
spellingShingle Original Research
Carlsson, Yvonne
Nilsdotter, Anna
Bergman, Stefan
Liljedahl, Matilda
Junior doctors' experiences of the medical internship: a qualitative study
title Junior doctors' experiences of the medical internship: a qualitative study
title_full Junior doctors' experiences of the medical internship: a qualitative study
title_fullStr Junior doctors' experiences of the medical internship: a qualitative study
title_full_unstemmed Junior doctors' experiences of the medical internship: a qualitative study
title_short Junior doctors' experiences of the medical internship: a qualitative study
title_sort junior doctors' experiences of the medical internship: a qualitative study
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9017508/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35321942
http://dx.doi.org/10.5116/ijme.6229.d795
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