Qualities of Role Models of Internal Medicine Residents in a Tertiary National University Hospital in the Philippines.

Background: Teachers in medicine do not only teach scientific facts about health and disease to their learners but they are also looked up to as role models. Little is known about the qualities of consultant-faculty members who are regarded as role models by Filipino internal medicine residents.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the reasons why consultant-faculty members are considered role models by Filipino internal medicine residents.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among internal medicine residents at a tertiary national university hospital in the Philippines. Participants were asked to give the reasons for citing consultant-faculty members who they consider as role models.

Results: There were 81 residents who participated (93% response rate) who gave a total of 332 qualities as reasons for citing them as role models. The most commonly cited quality category was those of personal qualities (35.84% of all responses). This was followed by academic, clinical, teaching, leadership and research qualities. Physical qualities were the least cited (0.30% of all responses). Across the four batches of residents, personal qualities were consistently cited the most number of times, while physical qualities were consistently cited the least.

Conclusion: Filipino internal medicine residents identified personal qualities as the most frequent reason for considering their consultant-faculty as role models.