than simply amorality. On reflection, do surgeons
more often resist the status quo if it is against
their beliefs of best care for their patient?
Personality traits do change throughout our
lifetimes and careers. A cross-sectional study of
253 trainee and consultant surgeons completed
a personality scoring questionnaire showing that
with increased seniority, aggression, extraversion
and achievement also increased. 7
Stress immunity
It is known that stress immunity is one of the
key personality traits seen in surgeons. 7 This
is not the first time that doctors have been
psychiatrically assessed and found to have had
increased psychiatric tendencies compared with
the general population. An Australian study using
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a General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) found that
doctors had a psychiatric morbidity in 28% of
cases versus 19.5% in the general population. 5,8
This study highlights that stress immunity is an
over-represented personality trait found among
doctors, with higher PPI-SF scores found in
surgeons, paediatricians and those working in
teaching hospitals. 9
Surgeons with a high degree of stress
immunity may be beneficial, or even essential,
to objective care, often making difficult but
necessary decisions. This trait may be important
in selecting individuals for subspecialty training
within the surgical profession, or in providing
extra support and training for those who are
required to provide optimal care in difficult
situations. Such situations may arise during