Yardley, S, Kinston, R, Lefroy, J, Gay, S and McKinley, RK (2020) ‘What do we do, doctor?’ Transitions of identity and responsibility: a narrative analysis. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 25 (4). pp. 825-843. ISSN 1382-4996

[thumbnail of Yardley et al. 2020.pdf] Text
Yardley et al. 2020.pdf - Accepted Version
Restricted to Repository staff only
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

Download (647kB)
[thumbnail of Yardley2020_Article_WhatDoWeDoDoctorTransitionsOfI.pdf]
Preview
Text
Yardley2020_Article_WhatDoWeDoDoctorTransitionsOfI.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

Download (736kB) | Preview

Abstract

Transitioning from student to doctor is notoriously challenging. Newly qualified doctors feel required to make decisions before owning their new identity. It is essential to understand how responsibility relates to identity formation to improve transitions for doctors and patients. This multiphase ethnographic study explores realities of transition through anticipatory, lived and reflective stages. We utilised Labov’s narrative framework (Labov in J Narrat Life Hist 7(1–4):395–415, 1997) to conduct in-depth analysis of complex relationships between changes in responsibility and development of professional identity. Our objective was to understand how these concepts interact. Newly qualified doctors acclimatise to their role requirements through participatory experience, perceived as a series of challenges, told as stories of adventure or quest. Rules of interaction within clinical teams were complex, context dependent and rarely explicit. Students, newly qualified and supervising doctors felt tensions around whether responsibility should be grasped or conferred. Perceived clinical necessity was a common determinant of responsibility rather than planned learning. Identity formation was chronologically mismatched to accepting responsibility. We provide a rich illumination of the complex relationship between responsibility and identity pre, during, and post-transition to qualified doctor: the two are inherently intertwined, each generating the other through successful actions in practice. This suggests successful transition requires a supported period of identity reconciliation during which responsibility may feel burdensome. During this, there is a fine line between too much and too little responsibility: seemingly innocuous assumptions can have a significant impact. More effort is needed to facilitate behaviours that delegate authority to the transitioning learner whilst maintaining true oversight.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Uncontrolled Keywords: Doctor, transitions, identity, responsibility, analysis
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Q Science > Q Science (General)
R Medicine > R Medicine (General)
Divisions: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Medicine
Depositing User: Symplectic
Date Deposited: 23 Jan 2020 09:33
Last Modified: 24 Sep 2020 14:32
URI: https://eprints.keele.ac.uk/id/eprint/7538

Actions (login required)

View Item
View Item