TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploring the impact of education on preclinical medical students’ tolerance of uncertainty
T2 - a qualitative longitudinal study
AU - Stephens, Georgina C.
AU - Rees, Charlotte E.
AU - Lazarus, Michelle D.
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank Sophie Paynter for her help with preliminary data analysis, Sally Robinson and Ingrid D’Souza for facilitating interview discussions, and Benjamin Kile and Mahbub Sarkar for their critical review of earlier versions of this paper. Figures were designed in collaboration with Kat Orgallo, Teaching Resource Support Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University. Grant funding for this research was provided by the Monash University Faculty of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences Learning and Teaching Research Grant Scheme and the Monash Education Academy. This research was also supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. Finally, we wish to thank the student participants, without whom this study would not have been possible.
Funding Information:
We would like to thank Sophie Paynter for her help with preliminary data analysis, Sally Robinson and Ingrid D?Souza for facilitating interview discussions, and Benjamin Kile and Mahbub Sarkar for their critical review of earlier versions of this paper. Figures were designed in collaboration with Kat Orgallo, Teaching Resource Support Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University. Grant funding for this research was provided by the Monash University Faculty of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences Learning and Teaching Research Grant Scheme and the Monash Education Academy. This research was also supported by an Australian Government?Research Training Program Scholarship. Finally, we wish to thank the student participants, without whom this study would not have been possible.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, Springer Nature B.V.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/3
Y1 - 2021/3
N2 - Tolerance of uncertainty, a construct describing individuals’ responses to perceived uncertainty, has relevancy across healthcare systems, yet little work explores the impact of education on medical students’ tolerance of uncertainty. While debate remains as to whether tolerance of uncertainty is changeable or static, the prevailing conceptual healthcare tolerance of uncertainty model (Hillen et al. in Soc Sci Med 180:62–75, 2017) suggests that individuals’ tolerance of uncertainty is influenced by so-called moderators. Evidence regarding education’s role as a moderator of tolerance of uncertainty is, however, lacking. Preliminary work exploring medical students’ professional identity formation within anatomy learning identified tolerance of uncertainty as a theme warranting further exploration. Extending from this work, our research question was: How does the anatomy education learning environment impact medical students’ tolerance of uncertainty? To address this question, qualitative data were collected longitudinally across two successive cohorts through online discussion forums during semester and end of semester interviews. Framework analysis identified five stimuli of uncertainty, four moderators of uncertainty, and cognitive, emotional and behavioral responses to uncertainty with variable valency (positive and/or negative). Longitudinal data analyses indicated changes in stimuli, moderators and responses to uncertainty over time, suggesting that tolerance of uncertainty is changeable rather than static. While our findings support the Hillen et al. (Soc Sci Med 180:62–75, 2017) model in parts, our data extend this model and the previous literature. Although further research is needed about students’ development of tolerance of uncertainty in the clinical learning environment, we encourage medical educators to incorporate aspects of tolerance of uncertainty into curricular and learning environments.
AB - Tolerance of uncertainty, a construct describing individuals’ responses to perceived uncertainty, has relevancy across healthcare systems, yet little work explores the impact of education on medical students’ tolerance of uncertainty. While debate remains as to whether tolerance of uncertainty is changeable or static, the prevailing conceptual healthcare tolerance of uncertainty model (Hillen et al. in Soc Sci Med 180:62–75, 2017) suggests that individuals’ tolerance of uncertainty is influenced by so-called moderators. Evidence regarding education’s role as a moderator of tolerance of uncertainty is, however, lacking. Preliminary work exploring medical students’ professional identity formation within anatomy learning identified tolerance of uncertainty as a theme warranting further exploration. Extending from this work, our research question was: How does the anatomy education learning environment impact medical students’ tolerance of uncertainty? To address this question, qualitative data were collected longitudinally across two successive cohorts through online discussion forums during semester and end of semester interviews. Framework analysis identified five stimuli of uncertainty, four moderators of uncertainty, and cognitive, emotional and behavioral responses to uncertainty with variable valency (positive and/or negative). Longitudinal data analyses indicated changes in stimuli, moderators and responses to uncertainty over time, suggesting that tolerance of uncertainty is changeable rather than static. While our findings support the Hillen et al. (Soc Sci Med 180:62–75, 2017) model in parts, our data extend this model and the previous literature. Although further research is needed about students’ development of tolerance of uncertainty in the clinical learning environment, we encourage medical educators to incorporate aspects of tolerance of uncertainty into curricular and learning environments.
KW - Ambiguity
KW - Anatomy
KW - Medical education
KW - Qualitative longitudinal research
KW - Tolerance
KW - Uncertainty
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85085003065&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10459-020-09971-0
DO - 10.1007/s10459-020-09971-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 32378150
AN - SCOPUS:85085003065
VL - 26
SP - 53
EP - 77
JO - Advances in Health Sciences Education
JF - Advances in Health Sciences Education
SN - 1382-4996
IS - 1
ER -