Intolerance of ambiguity among family practice residents.

The art of clinical medicine involves learning to deal with varying levels of ambiguity and uncertainty. Tolerance of ambiguity was examined by giving Budner's Intolerance of Ambiguity Scale to a sample of 37 family practice residents from a university hospital residency and 22 from a community hospital residency. Residents in both the community and university programs had similar scores. No differences existed between men and women. Compared to studies of medical students, first-year family practice residents were slightly more intolerant of ambiguity. However, intolerance of ambiguity was lower among third-year residents, suggesting that as training advances, residents may become more tolerant of ambiguity. The residency training process may lead to a reduction in intolerance of ambiguity, which produces physicians who can deal with the ambiguity and uncertainty of clinical practice.