Korean Medical Education Review (의학교육논단)

Yonsei university college of medicine (연세대학교 의과대학)
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A Narrative Inquiry of Medical Students' Experiences of Expulsion and Military Service

의과대학 과정 중 제적과 군복무를 경험한 학생들에 대한 내러티브 연구

  • Lee, Won Kyoung (Department of Theology, Graduate School, Yonsei University) ;
  • Park, Kyung Hye (Department of Medical Education, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine)
  • 이원경 (연세대학교 대학원 신학과) ;
  • 박경혜 (연세대학교 원주의과대학 의학교육학과)
  • Received : 2018.12.21
  • Accepted : 2019.04.26
  • Published : 2019.06.30
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Abstract

The aim of this study was to use narrative inquiry to explore the experiences of medical students who faced expulsion, military service, and readmission, and their journeys of identity formation. Three medical students were recruited via snowball sampling, and each participant was interviewed twice. According to the sequence of experiences, their stories were summarized as follows: the process of being expelled, the military service experience and readmission process, and the present. Before all three students were expelled, they lived dissolute lives free of concern from the entrance examination and failed to cope well with dropping out. They felt that military experience had helped them develop interpersonal skills in the clinical setting and the strength to withstand a difficult crisis. Two students were motivated to become doctors after military service, but the other was not. They had reflected deeply over their unique experiences. The scars imprinted from their experiences became a means of stimulation, and they ultimately acquired the resilience and ability to accommodate for and counteract their weaknesses. This appears to have been an important influence on their identity formation. The narrations of their rare experiences can help medical educators more fully understand and support medical students through difficulties, specifically with regard to academic failure or expulsion. These findings may prompt medical professors to think about the kind of guidance or motivation that could help students before expulsion, rather than assuming that they are simply lacking academic ability.

Keywords

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Figure 1. Study diagram of narrative inquiry.

Table 1. Basic data of the participants

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