Personality Profiles and Under-Pressure Behavioral Patterns in Surgical Trainees and Faculty: Implications for Leadership Curriculum Design

Abstract

Introduction

Personality assessments have been widely used in business to identify leadership potential and enhance team performance; however, their integration into surgical education remains limited. This study evaluated surgeons’ personality profiles using the PRISM assessment and compared them with those of other health care professionals to guide the design of leadership development curricula for surgical training.

Methods

A total of 199 surgeons (residents, fellows, and faculty) across multiple academic medical centers completed the PRISM personality assessment as part of structured leadership development programs. Data were compared with a normative cohort of 5887 health care professionals from the SurePeople database. Primary and under-pressure personality profiles were analyzed using chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests, with significance set at P < .05.

Results

No significant differences were found between surgeons and other health care professionals in primary personality distributions. Under-pressure profiles, however, revealed a greater proportion of surgeons classified as the Navigator type (22% vs 14%; P = .05), reflecting tendency towards higher decisiveness and structure in stressful conditions. Personality distributions were similar across residents, fellows, and attending surgeons.

Discussion

Although surgeons’ baseline personalities mirror those of other health care professionals, their stress-related behavioral tendencies demonstrate a unique shift toward structured, action-oriented responses. Incorporating personality assessments such as PRISM into leadership curricula may enhance self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and team performance.

Conclusion

Integrating structured personality assessment into surgical leadership education provides valuable insight into behavioral responses under stress and supports the development of adaptive, emotionally intelligent leaders who foster effective and collaborative surgical teams.