Relationship between resilience and personality traits of students in undergraduate medical programs

Abstract

Objective: To assess the effect of personal factors on resilience in undergraduate medical students.

Method: The analytical, cross-sectional study was conducted from June to August 2023 among medical and dental students at 5 public and private medical colleges in the Punjab and Sindh provinces of Pakistan. Students from Army Medical College (AMC) Rawalpindi, Ghulam Muhammad Mahar Medical College (GMMMC) Sukkar, Rawalpindi Medical College (RMU) Rawalpindi, Foundation University School of health Sciences (FUSH) Islamabad, and Baqai Medical University (BMU) Karachi were included in the study, after approval from the ethics review board of Army Medical College, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Data was collected using Google Forms based on Medical Professionals Resilience Scale and Big Five Inventory questionnaires aimed at determining the relation between resilience and personality. Data was analysed using SPSS 26.

Results: Of the 5 medical institutions, 3(60%) were from Punjab and 2(40%) were from Sindh, while 3(60%) were from the public sector (AMC, GMMMC, RMU) and 2(40%) were from the private sector (FUSH, BMU). Of the 356 students with mean age 21.18±1.67 years, 204(57.3%) were females and 152(42.7%) were males, while 345(96.9%) were medical and 11(3.1%) were dental students. There were 80(22.5%) students from AMC, 33(9.3%) from GMMMC, 145(40.7%) from RMU, 59(16.6%) from FUSH and 39(11%) from BMU. Resilience had a positively weak to moderate correlation with Agreeableness (r=0.156) and Conscientiousness (r=0.206).  Extraversion (r=-0.288), Neuroticism (r=-0.194) and Openness (r=-0.303) had a negative correlation with Resilience. GMMMC showed a weakly negative correlation between Resilience and all personality traits, while BMU showed a significantly positive correlation of Resilience with Extraversion. Public-sector students (AMC, GMMC and RMU) demonstrated relatively higher mean resilience score than private-sector students (FUSH and BMU).

Conclusion: Medical institutions should develop programmes that foster resilience by targeting key personality traits. Personalized educational strategies, mental health support, and resilience training should be integrated into the curriculum to address individual differences.

Keywords: Relationship, resilience, personality traits, undergraduate medical program.