
A Chameleon and a Sponge: A Qualitative Study on Adaptability in Undergraduate Clinical Medical Students
References
- Mylopoulos M, Brydges R, Woods NN, Manzone J, Schwartz DL. Preparation for future learning: a missing competency in health professions education? Medical Education. 2016;50(1):115–123. DOI: 10.1111/medu.12893
- Bus CL, van der Gulden R, Bolk M, de Graaf J, van den Hurk M, Scherpbier-de Haan NND, et al. Adaptability and learning Intraprofessional collaboration of residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. BMC Medical Education. 2022;22(1):782. DOI: 10.1186/s12909-022-03868-9
- Bartone PT, Krueger GP, Bartone JV. Individual Differences in Adaptability to Isolated, Confined, and Extreme Environments. Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance. 2018;89(6):536–546. DOI: 10.3357/AMHP.4951.2018
- Bransford Jd, Schwartz Dl. Chapter 3: Rethinking Transfer: A Simple Proposal With Multiple Implications. Review of Research in Education. 1999;24(1):61–100. DOI: 10.3102/0091732X024001061
- Kay D, Berry A, Coles NA. What Experiences in Medical School Trigger Professional Identity Development? Teaching and Learning in Medicine. 2019;31(1):17–25. DOI: 10.1080/10401334.2018.1444487
- Cruess SR, Cruess RL, Steinert Y. Supporting the development of a professional identity: General principles. Medical Teacher. 2019;41(6):641–649. DOI: 10.1080/0142159X.2018.1536260
- Steenhof N, Woods NN, Van Gerven PWM, Mylopoulos M. Productive failure as an instructional approach to promote future learning. Advances in Health Sciences Education. 2019;24(4):739–749. DOI: 10.1007/s10459-019-09895-4
- Yakov G, Riskin A, Flugelman AA. Mechanisms involved in the formation of professional identity by medical students. Medical Teacher. 2021;43(4):428–438. DOI: 10.1080/0142159X.2020.1854706
- Wald HS, White J, Reis SP, Esquibel AY, Anthony D. Grappling with complexity: Medical students’ reflective writings about challenging patient encounters as a window into professional identity formation. Medical Teacher. 2019;41(2):152–160. DOI: 10.1080/0142159X.2018.1475727
- Sellberg M, Palmgren PJ, Möller R. Balancing acting and adapting: a qualitative study of medical students’ experiences of early clinical placement. BMC Medical Education. 2022;22(1):659. DOI: 10.1186/s12909-022-03714-y
- Dunham L, Dekhtyar M, Gruener G, CichoskiKelly E, Deitz J, Elliott D, et al. Medical Student Perceptions of the Learning Environment in Medical School Change as Students Transition to Clinical Training in Undergraduate Medical School. Teaching and Learning in Medicine. 2017;29(4):383–391. DOI: 10.1080/10401334.2017.1297712
- Hatano G, Inagaki K. Two courses of expertise. 乳幼児発達臨床センター年報. 1984;6:27–36.
- Schwartz DL, Bransford JD, Sears D. Efficiency and innovation in transfer. Transfer of learning from a modern multidisciplinary perspective. 2005. p. 1–51. DOI: 10.1108/978-1-60752-673-520251002
- Pusic MV, Hall E, Billings H, Branzetti J, Hopson LR, Regan L, et al. Educating for adaptive expertise: case examples along the medical education continuum. Advances in Health Sciences Education. 2022. DOI: 10.1007/s10459-022-10165-z
- Merritt C, Santen SA, Cico SJ, Wolff M, Pusic M. Punctuated Equilibrium: COVID and the Duty to Teach for Adaptive Expertise. West J Emerg Med. 2022;23(1):56–58. DOI: 10.5811/westjem.2021.11.55268
- Mylopoulos M, Regehr G. How student models of expertise and innovation impact the development of adaptive expertise in medicine. Medical Education. 2009;43(2):127–132. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2923.2008.03254.x
- Mylopoulos M, Kulasegaram K, Woods NN. Developing the experts we need: Fostering adaptive expertise through education. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice. 2018;24(3):674–677. DOI: 10.1111/jep.12905
- Creswell JW. Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Pearson Education, Inc; 2012.
- Charmaz K. Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. Sage; 2006.
- Savery JR. Overview of problem-based learning: Definitions and distinctions. Essential readings in problem-based learning: Exploring and extending the legacy of Howard S Barrows. 2015;9(2):5–15. DOI: 10.2307/j.ctt6wq6fh.6
- Kua J, Lim W-S, Teo W, Edwards RA. A scoping review of adaptive expertise in education. Medical Teacher. 2021;43(3):347–355. DOI: 10.1080/0142159X.2020.1851020
- Pelgrim E, Hissink E, Bus L, van der Schaaf M, Nieuwenhuis L, van Tartwijk J, et al. Professionals’ adaptive expertise and adaptive performance in educational and workplace settings: an overview of reviews. Advances in Health Sciences Education. 2022. DOI: 10.1007/s10459-022-10190-y
- Bohle Carbonell K, van Merrienboer JJ. Adaptive expertise. 2018. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198795872.013.12
- Bohle Carbonell K, Stalmeijer RE, Könings KD, Segers M, van Merriënboer JJG. How experts deal with novel situations: A review of adaptive expertise. Educational Research Review. 2014;12:14–29. DOI: 10.1016/j.edurev.2014.03.001
- Mann S, Novintan S, Hazemi-Jebelli Y, Faehndrich D. Medical Students’ Corner: Lessons From COVID-19 in Equity, Adaptability, and Community for the Future of Medical Education. JMIR Med Educ. 2020;6(2):
e23604 . DOI: 10.2196/23604 - Braun V, Clarke V. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative research in psychology. 2006;3(2):77–101. DOI: 10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
- Kiger ME, Varpio L. Thematic analysis of qualitative data: AMEE Guide No. 131. Medical Teacher. 2020;42(8):846–854. DOI: 10.1080/0142159X.2020.1755030
- Ravitch SM, Carl NM. Qualitative research: Bridging the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological. Sage Publications; 2019.
- Varpio L, Ajjawi R, Monrouxe LV, O’Brien BC, Rees CE. Shedding the cobra effect: problematising thematic emergence, triangulation, saturation and member checking. Medical Education. 2017;51(1):40–50. DOI: 10.1111/medu.13124
- Malterud K, Siersma VD, Guassora AD. Sample size in qualitative interview studies: guided by information power. Qualitative health research. 2016;26(13):1753–1760. DOI: 10.1177/1049732315617444
- Kennedy TJ, Lingard LA. Making sense of grounded theory in medical education. Medical education. 2006;40(2):101–108. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2929.2005.02378.x
- Atlas.ti Scientific Software Development Gmbh G. Atlas.ti 24.1.1.30813 ed2024.
- Mclaughlin S. When I say … positionality. Medical Education. 2024;58(10):1149–1150. DOI: 10.1111/medu.15427
- Vanstone M, Grierson L. Medical student strategies for actively negotiating hierarchy in the clinical environment. Medical Education. 2019;53(10):1013–1024. DOI: 10.1111/medu.13945
- Dornan T, Tan N, Boshuizen H, Gick R, Isba R, Mann K, et al. How and what do medical students learn in clerkships? Experience based learning (ExBL). Advances in Health Sciences Education. 2014;19(5):721–749. DOI: 10.1007/s10459-014-9501-0
- Reissner S, Armitage-Chan E. Manifestations of professional identity work: an integrative review of research in professional identity formation. Studies in Higher Education. 2024;49(12):2707–2722. DOI: 10.1080/03075079.2024.2322093
- Cruess RL, Cruess SR, Boudreau JD, Snell L, Steinert Y. A Schematic Representation of the Professional Identity Formation and Socialization of Medical Students and Residents: A Guide for Medical Educators. Academic Medicine. 2015;90(6):718–725. DOI: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000000700
- O’Doherty D, Culhane A, O’Doherty J, Harney S, Glynn L, McKeague* H, et al. Medical students and clinical placements – a qualitative study of the continuum of professional identity formation. Education for Primary Care. 2021;32(4):202–210. DOI: 10.1080/14739879.2021.1879684
- Goldie J. The formation of professional identity in medical students: Considerations for educators. Medical Teacher. 2012;34(9):e641–e648. DOI: 10.3109/0142159X.2012.687476
- Monrouxe LV. Identity, identification and medical education: why should we care? Medical Education. 2010;44(1):40–49. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2923.2009.03440.x
- Kawamura A, Harris I, Thomas K, Mema B, Mylopoulos M. Exploring How Pediatric Residents Develop Adaptive Expertise in Communication: The Importance of “Shifts” in Understanding Patient and Family Perspectives. Academic Medicine. 2020;95(7):1066–1072. DOI: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000002963
- Ott M, Schwartz A, Goldszmidt M, Bordage G, Lingard L. Resident hesitation in the operating room: does uncertainty equal incompetence? Medical Education. 2018;52(8):851–860. DOI: 10.1111/medu.13530
- Spafford M, Schryer C, Lingard L, Hrynchak P. What healthcare students do with what they don’t know: The socializing power of ‘uncertainty’ in the case presentation. Communication & medicine. 2006;3:81–92. DOI: 10.3138/come.2006.008
- Moser A, Korstjens I. Series: Practical guidance to qualitative research. Part 3: Sampling, data collection and analysis. European Journal of General Practice. 2018;24(1):9–18. DOI: 10.1080/13814788.2017.1375091
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/pme.2209 | Journal eISSN: 2212-277X
Language: English
Page range: 432 - 441
Submitted on: Oct 21, 2025
Accepted on: Mar 6, 2026
Published on: May 15, 2026
Published by: Ubiquity Press
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year
© 2026 Mattias Theys, Daniëlle M. L. Verstegen, Pim W. Teunissen, Emmaline E. Brouwer, published by Ubiquity Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.