PIE

The Professional Identity Formation Essay Project examines how learners make sense of their evolving roles, values, and responsibilities during medical training through narrative reflection. Drawing on qualitative, critical, and narrative inquiry methods, this project analyzes reflective essays to explore how experiences of uncertainty, emotion, belonging, and shame shape identity development across the continuum of training. The work foregrounds learner voice and meaning-making while also investigating how institutional structures, assessment practices, and cultural norms influence what learners feel able to express. Together, these analyses inform more human-centered approaches to assessment, feedback, and curricular design that recognize professional identity formation as a central outcome of medical education.