Características psicológicas y estilos cognitivos de estudiantes de medicina y de otras carreras de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile ; Psychological features and cognitive styles of students entering Medicine and other careers at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

The simila rity between the psychologica l fea tures of medi_x0002_ca l school freshmen of different cohorts suggests tha t Medicine a ttra cts students with specific psychologi_x0002_ca l types. However, it is a lso possible tha t medica l students a re simila r to the students a dmitted to a ny other ca reer with high a dmission requirements. Aim: To determine if medica l school freshmen a re dif_x0002_ferent from those of Engineering, Architecture, Psychology a nd Journa lism. Subjects and methods: The Spa nish version of the Myers Briggs Psychologica l Type Indica tor (MBTI) wa s a pplied to two cohorts of Medica l School freshmen (90 students of the 2000 cohort a nd 91 students of the 2001 cohort) a nd to a sa mple of 669 freshmen from the ca reers of Engineering, Psychology, Architecture a nd Journa lism. Results: Students entering Medica l School a re simila r to the students a dmitted to Engineering a nd dif_x0002_ferent from those tha t entered Architecture, Psychology a nd Journa lism in the Pontificia Universida d Ca tólica de Chile in 2000 a nd 2001. Medicine a ttra cts a la rger proportion of concrete a nd pra ctica l students tha t ha ve a n objective a nd systema tic a pproa ch to study a nd to life in genera l. Unlike Medi_x0002_cine, Psychology a nd Architecture a ttra ct more students tha t ha ve a cognitive style cha ra cterized by an intuitive perception, a nd tha t fa ce life with a n open a nd flexible a ttitude. Conclusions. This study re_x0002_vea ls tha t the psychologica l fea tures of undergra dua te students a re a ssocia ted to their ca reer choice. These psychologica l va ria bles, therefore, ma y be releva nt to the students’ voca tiona l preferences a nd possibly to their future specia lty choice