Researchers from NYU School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine found female medical students are less confident in their answers while studying than male students, despite that they give correct answers more frequently, according to Bloomberg Business.
The study, originally published in Annals of Internal Medicine, examined the responses of male and female medical students to questions on a digital study platform called Osmosis. Before submitting answers to medical questions, students check a box next to “I’m sure,” “Feeling lucky,” or “No clue,” to indicate their confidence in their answers.
The study revealed the following statistics.
- Women checked “I’m sure” for 40 percent of their answers.
- Men checked “I’m sure” 44 percent of the time.
- 81 percent of women who checked “I’m sure” correctly answered the study question.
- 78 percent of men who checked “I’m sure” answered correctly.
- Women checked “No clue” more frequently than men, but gave correct answers equally to men when they answered with “no clue.”
- Women gave slightly more correct answers than men overall.
More articles on integration and physician issues:
Students take pay cuts for prestigious medical residencies, study shows
Survey finds 78 percent of physicians want nutrition training
Athens Regional to host 45-resident training program