Fraudulent Feelings: Imposter Syndrome in Surgery

The term "imposter syndrome" is used to describe an internal sense that one's success is undeserved, despite objective evidence to the contrary. It was first described in 1978 by psychologists Clance and Imes.1 Their research was focused on professional women who had objective signs of success, including advanced degrees and academic accomplishments, who were convinced they were unintelligent and were waiting to be "found out" by their peers. They suggested the origin of these perceptions was due to childhood experiences and societal expectations, and recommended multi-modal therapy as treatment.