Unveiling how medical educators conceptualise resilience: a qualitative study

Linda Chan^{1

2

3

4}, Emma V M Bilney⁵, Fraide A Ganotice⁶, Julie Yun Chen^{5

6

7}, Samuel Y S Wong⁸, Paul Po Ling Chan^{5

6}, Zoe H W Tang⁵, Sam C H Yuen⁵, Carmen Ka Man Wong⁸, Tai Pong Lam⁵, Cynthia R Whitehead^{9

10

11}, George L Tipoe⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. lmjchan@hku.hk.
² Bau Institute of Medical and Health Sciences Education, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. lmjchan@hku.hk.
³ Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. lmjchan@hku.hk.
⁴ Bau Institute of Medical and Health Sciences Education, The University of Hong Kong, 5/F William MW Mong Block, 21 Sassoon Road,, Pokfulam, Hong Kong S.A.R, China. lmjchan@hku.hk.
⁵ Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
⁶ Bau Institute of Medical and Health Sciences Education, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
⁷ Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.
⁸ The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
⁹ Wilson Centre for Research in Education, Temerty Faculty of Medicine and University Health Network, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹⁰ Department of Family and Community Medicine, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹¹ Women's College Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.

PMID: 40898173
PMCID: PMC12403886
DOI: 10.1186/s12909-025-07834-z

Unveiling how medical educators conceptualise resilience: a qualitative study

Linda Chan et al. BMC Med Educ. 2025.

. 2025 Sep 2;25(1):1241.

doi: 10.1186/s12909-025-07834-z.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. lmjchan@hku.hk.
² Bau Institute of Medical and Health Sciences Education, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. lmjchan@hku.hk.
³ Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. lmjchan@hku.hk.
⁴ Bau Institute of Medical and Health Sciences Education, The University of Hong Kong, 5/F William MW Mong Block, 21 Sassoon Road,, Pokfulam, Hong Kong S.A.R, China. lmjchan@hku.hk.
⁵ Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
⁶ Bau Institute of Medical and Health Sciences Education, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
⁷ Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.
⁸ The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
⁹ Wilson Centre for Research in Education, Temerty Faculty of Medicine and University Health Network, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹⁰ Department of Family and Community Medicine, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹¹ Women's College Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.

PMID: 40898173
PMCID: PMC12403886
DOI: 10.1186/s12909-025-07834-z

Abstract

Background: Medical educators operate in high-pressure environments where resilience is critical to their well-being and professional effectiveness. Studies exploring how medical educators conceptualise resilience is limited, particularly outside Western contexts. As such, research investigating culturally-sensitive conceptualisations of resilience in an Asian context is overdue. This study addresses this gap by exploring how medical educators in Hong Kong (HK) conceptualise resilience, attending to the cultural and professional nuances that shape these understandings.

Method: Twenty medical educators teaching medical students, trainees and/or physicians at HK's two medical schools were recruited via email using maximum variation sampling. Semi-structured online interviews were conducted in English, audio- and video-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Researchers adopted a constructivist epistemology and employed a socio-ecological model to guide Reflexive Thematic Analysis of the transcripts.

Results: Medical educators predominantly conceptualised resilience as a dynamic process, though some also described it as an outcome of navigating adversity, and to a lesser extent, as an inherent trait. Notably, conceptualisations of resilience as a process and as an outcome often overlapped. Adversity was consistently identified as a fundamental component across definitions. Participants aligned their understandings of resilience closely with their professional roles and pervading sociocultural influences, emphasising relational and cultural dimensions. This holistic approach distinguished their perspectives from more individualised Western notions of resilience.

Conclusions: Traditional Western frameworks of resilience may not adequately capture its complexities in other cultural contexts. Echoing the socio-ecological model, participants' conceptualisations were deeply intertwined with HK's cultural values and socio-contextual dynamics. These findings underscore the need to broaden global understandings of resilience beyond Western paradigms. Importantly, our findings can inform the design of culturally-sensitive faculty development programmes aiming to support medical educator resilience in the future.

Keywords: Asia; Conceptualisation; Culture; Educators; Medical education; Resilience; Socio-Ecological; Teachers.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee for Non-clinical Faculties of the University of Hong Kong (ref: EA200136) and by the Joint CUHK-New Territories East Cluster Clinical Research Ethics Committee (ref: 2021.079). The research was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, which included obtaining informed consent from participants prior to them joining the study and assuring their anonymity. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

**Fig. 1**
Concept map of qualitative interview themes and sub-themes related to how twenty medical educators in Hong Kong conceptualised resilience (2021-2022)

See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Unveiling how medical educators conceptualise resilience: a qualitative study

Affiliations

Unveiling how medical educators conceptualise resilience: a qualitative study

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Research Materials

Miscellaneous