Medical education
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Medical learners are vulnerable to the social power used by preceptors. Furthermore, an individual's perceived level of personal empowerment has been identified as a predictor of positive behaviour in education environments. The degree to which medical students feel empowered in their clinical environments factors largely into how vulnerable they are to having their professional values influenced negatively by structural and cultural aspects of these environments. ⋯ Clerks' perceptions of empowerment correlate positively with positive power bases and negatively with negative dimensions of preceptor power. This research has implications for the importance of the development of resident and faculty staff as educators, the identification of clerks who are vulnerable to ethical violation, and for a refined understanding of the transactional way in which power is experienced in a medical education context.