Abstract
The major objective of this research is to examine whether or not medical students acquire values other than those related to traditional orientations to medical service. These values are approached in the context of the medical training of the student physician at a predominantly black medical college. The research setting is the Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, DC, one of the two black four-year medical colleges in the United States.
Specifically, the study examines whether or not socialization in medical school initiates the acquisition of a communal value system among students. A communal value system in this analysis consists of (1) community involvement and (2) an ideology emphasizing liberalism toward social change.
Methodologically, interviews (unstructured and focused), direct observation, and survey research are used in the data collection process. The research design also includes the use of a cross sectional method of analysis with longitudinal focus involving first, second, third, and fourth year students.
The findings suggest that this particular medical school reinforces, clarifies, or alters communal value orientations acquired prior to coming to medical school. Among students who do not change their communal value commitments after entering graduate training, the feeling is that the medical school reinforces prior dispositions. Among students who change as medical trainees, two tendencies are evident. Regarding community involvement, the majority of students develop a stronger interest as the result of their medical school experience. Concerning social change, students, in general, move from a liberal perspective to a more conservative position. The initial development of a communal value orientation is related to family socializing influences and racial identification factors.
It is concluded that the experiences at Howard University Medical College interact with previous student dispositions concerning a communal value orientation.
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