Examining Professional Identity Formation Through the Ancient Art of Mask-Making

Excerpt

Professional identity formation (PIF) is a complex sociocultural process whereby medical students learn to think, feel, and act like physicians. This process is often unscripted and influenced by informal curricular elements. Medical schools must provide students with the scientific knowledge and clinical skills to practice medicine, and also with opportunities to develop a healthy professional identity—empowering them to “think, act and feel like a physician”.^1(p.1447) Developing a comfortable professional identity is a challenging process that requires self-awareness, and a habit of reflective practice.² Alarmingly, rates of depression, burnout and suicide have increased sharply in medical students.^{2, 3} Hypothesizing that a struggle in the process of identity formation is associated, we incorporate visual strategies to (re)introduce mask-making as a mechanism to foster PIF in the context of medical education. …