A Comparative Study Of Doctor And Medical Students' Altruistic Behavior

Based on theoretical research, we investigated the altruistic behavior among medical doctors and students from psychological perspective through two different methods. Questionnaire was custom designed focusing on the probability of emergence of altruistic behavior on daily circumstances such as giving convenience to the people in need on the public transport. We received validly completed questionnaires from234medical doctors and233medical students on which quantitative analysis were conducted. The two study groups show different levels of altruism where the medical doctors are more altruistic whereas that of the students is weakening. We did not manage to complete the factor analysis on the questionnaire because the topics involved are too diverse to reduce the dimensions for different altruistic behaviors. The other method was in-depth semi-structural characterizing interview. Two medical doctors and3medical students were randomly selected as the interview candidates. Through classical "grounded theory", the interview content was categorized and coded based on different event and actions which were further coded secondarily and tertiarily. The outcome can be summarized into two factors, medical skills and work ethics, with the former being the prerequisite to altruistic behaviors and the latter being the domain where altruism is an essential component.We conclude that the weakening of medical student’s altruistic behavior is the potential cause of future deterioration of doctor-patient relationship. This has been a major concern of the current medical doctors. It urges us to develop and implement a more efficient education strategy regarding work ethics in medical schools.