Table 1 Themes, theme definitions, and codes of medical students’ essays
Themes | Theme definitions | Codes |
|---|---|---|
1. Knowledge to practice medicine | Use biomedical science knowledge to support clinical reasoning and justify clinical decisions | 1.a. Diagnosis 1.b. Patient management 1.c. Tolerance of ambiguity 1.d. Patient safety |
2. Lifelong learning | Acquire new biomedical science knowledge to understand and apply new, improved, and emerging therapies/treatments, diagnostics, interventions, and understanding of disease mechanisms that are advanced through biomedical science research (i.e., evidence-based medicine) | 2.a. Continue learning throughout practice |
3. Physician-patient relationship | Educate and empower patients by engaging them in shared decision making, providing compassionate care, and developing patient trust | 3.a. Educate patients 3.b. Empower patients 3.c. Develop patient trust |
4. Learner perception of self | Biomedical science knowledge contributes to the emergence of professional identity | 4.a. Develop confidence and competence as a physician 4.b. Transition from layperson to physician |