Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2023 Apr 14;23(1):246.
doi: 10.1186/s12909-023-04228-x.

Conflict resolution styles and skills and variation among medical students

Rathnayaka M Kalpanee D Gunasingha  1 , Hui-Jie Lee  2 , Congwen Zhao  2 , Alison Clay  3   4
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Conflict resolution styles and skills and variation among medical students

Rathnayaka M Kalpanee D Gunasingha et al. BMC Med Educ. .

Abstract

Background: Conflict is inevitable on healthcare teams, yet few professional school curricula teach or assess conflict resolution skills. Little is known about the variation in conflict resolution styles across medical students and how these styles might impact conflict resolution skills.

Methods: This is a prospective, single blinded, group randomized quasi experimental trial to assess the impact of knowing one's own conflict resolution style on conflict resolution skills in a simulated encounter. Graduating medical students completed a mandatory conflict resolution session with standardized patients acting as nurses during a transition to residency course. Coaches reviewed videotapes of the simulation, focusing on students' skills with negotiation and emotional intelligence. Retrospectively, we assessed the impact of the students knowing their conflict resolution style prior to simulation, student gender, race, and intended field of practice on conflict resolution skills as judged by coaches.

Results: One hundred and eight students completed the simulated conflict session. Sixty-seven students completed the TKI before the simulated patient (SP) encounter and 41 after. The most common conflict resolution style was accommodating (n = 40). Knowing one's conflict resolution style in advance of the simulation and one's identified race/ethnicity did not impact skill as assessed by faculty coaches. Students pursuing diagnosis-based specialties had higher negotiation (p = 0.04) and emotional quotient (p = 0.006) scores than those pursuing procedural specialties. Females had higher emotional quotient scores (p = 0.02).

Conclusions: Conflict resolution styles vary among medical students. Male gender and future practice in a procedural specialty impacted conflict resolution skills but knowing conflict resolution style did not.

Keywords: Conflict resolution; Conflict resolution style; Entrustability; Undergraduate medical education.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The five-conflict resolution styles as described by the TKI on scales of assertiveness and cooperativeness. Figure adapted from TKI [29]
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Students were randomized into before and after groups. In the before group, the TKI was taken prior to the SP encounter. In the after group, the TKI was taken after the SP encounter, but prior to the self-evaluation
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Jehn KA, Bendersky C. Intragroup Conflict in Organizations: a continengency perspective on the conflict-outcome relationship. Res Organizational Behav. 2003;25:187–242. doi: 10.1016/S0191-3085(03)25005-X. - DOI
    1. Chaudry AM, Rehman A. Organizational conflict and conflict management: a synthesis of literature. J Bus Manage Res. 2015;9:238–44.
    1. Alonso M, et al. Rapid identification of linezolid resistance in Enterococcus spp. based on high-resolution melting analysis. J Microbiol Methods. 2014;98:41–3. doi: 10.1016/j.mimet.2013.12.013. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Jehn KA, Effectiveness E. An investigation of advantages and disadvantages of Value-based Intragroup. Confl Int J Confl Manage. 1994;5(3):223–38. doi: 10.1108/eb022744. - DOI
    1. Riskin A, et al. The impact of rudeness on Medical Team performance: a Randomized Trial. Pediatrics. 2015;136(3):487–95. doi: 10.1542/peds.2015-1385. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources