The application of formal axiology to medical education through the hartman value profile: a prospective cohort study

Many criteria such as USMLE scores, applicant resumes, Dean’s letters, recommendation letters, personal discussions, interview scores and medical school transcripts can be used to predict the success of a medical trainee in the USA. This information is either relatively objective, or subjective. It would be valuable if we had some objective measures that might predict a successful resident performance early in the process or on the other side to allow remediation or redirection. Actual performance of a resident or fellow is based upon his or her ability to execute sound judgments within the complex healthcare setting. The Hartman Value Profile (HVP) evaluates the structure and the dynamics of an individual value system. This study has the primary goal of determining whether specific indices on the HVP correlate with the management’s evaluation of the residents established by the Department of Anesthesiology at Yale University.

The protocol developed uses univariate correlations between residents’ HVP subscales and their performance scores, which will be determined with the Pearson correlation coefficient or Spearman rank coefficient as appropriate. Demographic and clinical variables will be reported descriptively. A two-sided alpha value of 0.05 will be used for identifying statistically significant findings.

The potential benefits are that obtaining specific indices on the HVP would enable management to better engage and work with residents. Experience gained from incorporating the HVP into the residency selection process suggests that it may add objectivity in predicting resident performance during training. Given the potential impact, it could be implemented as an adjuvant tool to the traditional evaluation process.