Lecture 4: Professionalism Flashcards
Professionalism
An occupation whose core element is work, based on the mastery of a complex body of knowledge and skills.
It is used in the service of others.
Its members profess a commitment to competences, integrity, morality, altruism, and the promotion of the public good within their domain.
These commitments are the basis of a social contract between a profession and society, granting the progression of autonomy in practice and privilege of self regulation. Professions and their members are accountable to those served and society.
What are some professionalism attributes?
Integrity, honesty, compassion, empathy, altruism (selflessness), continuous improvement, excellence, commitment to lifelong learning, accountability
Adherence to ethical codes of conduct
Working in partnership with members of wider healthcare team
Exercise of discretionary judgement
Professional association
Self care Self awareness and reflectiveness
Medical professionalism
Medical professionalism signifies as set of values, behaviours and relationship that underpins the trust the public has in doctors - we are working for the patients’ and public’s good Failure to demonstrate that we deserve that trust results in its loss, and hence the loss of medicine’s status as a profession
What behaviours comprise the medical profession?
- Physicians subordinate their own interests to the interests of others.
- Adhere to high ethical and moral standards.
- Respond to societal needs, and their behaviours reflect a social contract with the communities served.
- Evince core humanistic values, including honesty and integrity, caring and compassion, altruism and empathy, respect for others, and trustworthiness.
- Exercise accountability for themselves and for their colleagues.
- Demonstrate a continuing commitment to excellence.
- Exhibit a commitment to scholarship and to advancing.
- Deal with high levels of complexity and uncertainty.
- Reflect upon their actions and decisions.
Good Medical Practice
Patients are entitled to good doctors.
Good doctors make the care of patients their first concern, they are competent, keep their knowledge and skills up to date, establish and maintain good relationship with patients and colleagues, are honest and trustworthy and act ethically.
What areas of professionalism should Doctors be competent in?
- Caring for patients
- Respecting patients
- Working in partnership with patients and colleagues
- Acting honestly and ethically
- Accepting the obligation to maintain and improve standards
How does Good Medical Practice apply to students, doctors and patients?
•Med students: GMP identifies the basic duties of a good doctor and serves as a source of education and reflection. •Doctors: GMP serves as a basis for you to monitor, and reflect on, your own conduct and that of your colleagues. The Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal, the Council’s Professional Conduct Committees and the Health and Disability Commissioner may use Good Medical Practice as a standard by which to measure your professional conduct. •Patients: GMP provides guidance for assessing the minimum ethical and clinical conduct expected of doctors.
What is some evidence surrounding professionalism at Medical school?
- Professionalism (as well as empathy and compassion) decreases during medical school
- Problematic behaviour in medical school is associated with subsequent disciplinary action by a state medical board
- Disciplinary action among practising physicians by medical boards was strongly associated with unprofessional behaviour in medical school
What are the 3x types of curriculums + examples?
- Formal: what is stated, written down, assessed
- Informal: serendipitous learning that is often tutor and/or student specific, but not captured explicitly in formal
- Hidden: unseen learning that can be exposed by looking to it. Often culturally and environmentally learnt.
What is role modelling?
“A role model is one whose professional behaviours and academic values are emulated by junior faculty or trainees” - Developing professional judgement (like clinical judgement), is often based on observing others and then having to make own judgements in challenging circumstances.
What is the Hidden curriculum?
Hidden curriculum is sum of unwritten rules, influences and attitudes that students acquire initially from other students/staff within medical school and later from doctors in the clinical setting.
What are some examples of Hidden curriculum?
- Unprofessionalism in students is often related to faculty unprofessionalism. Students struggle to reconcile the disconnect between what they are taught and how they are treated (hidden curriculum) within hierarchy of authority in clinical learning environments
- Although a student can be prepared for excellent communication, collaboration, empathy, and patient-centred attitudes through years of formal training, just a few minutes in a work environment that does not model these behaviours will rapidly lead to the extinction in the student’s behaviours.
- Pre-clinical and clinical medical students in our setting commonly witness unprofessional behaviours. Clinical students participate in and tend to rationalize these behaviours more frequently than preclinical students do
- Student observation of and participation in unprofessional behaviour increased during clinical attachments. Participation in unprofessional behaviours is associated with perceiving these behaviours as acceptable
- Students are more likely to participate in a behaviour if observed and once participated in are more likely to judge behaviour as professional
