Background: Role modeling is an integral component of medical education. The literature suggests that being a clinically excellent academic physician and serving as a role model for trainees are integrally related.
Purpose: To explore the relationship between being considered clinically excellent and being considered an effective role model.
Methods: Two independent surveys were administered to clinically active faculty (asked to name clinically excellent colleagues) and internal medicine residents (asked to name faculty role models). We compared frequency counts of clinically excellent faculty mentioned and frequency counts of role models mentioned by respondents. Spearman correlations and odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were used to assess the relationship between the responses.
Results: A total of 39 of 66 faculty (59%) and 45 of 50 residents (90%) responded. There were 31 faculty members judged to be clinically excellent and 67 faculty identified as role models. Thirty faculty members appeared on both lists. There was a moderately high correlation between these groups (Spearman correlation coefficient = 0.54, P < .001). Faculty members who were among those named as clinically excellent by their peers were more likely to be named 3 or more times as a role model by trainees (odds ratio, 24.6; confidence interval, 2.9-207).
Conclusions: This study tested and confirmed the correlation between clinical excellence and role modeling, illustrating the value of these faculty members at teaching hospitals.