Letters
Ethics
Volume 200 - Issue 1

“They liked it if you said you cried”: how medical students perceive the teaching of professionalism

Authors:  Geoffrey J McColl, Barbara D Goss, Eleanor M Flynn and Agnes E Dodds

Med J Aust 2014; 200 (1): 20. || doi: 10.5694/mja13.11230
Published online: 20 January 2014
To the Editor: We were not surprised by the results of Birden and Underwood’s study of the attitudes of medical students to professionalism programs.1 In the context of similar issues at our university, we have recently implemented a professionalism program (“Ethical Practice-Empathic Practice” [EP2]) in our Doctor of Medicine (MD) course. This program begins in the first full-time clinical year (Year 2) as weekly small-group tutorials ...
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To the Editor: We were not surprised by the results of Birden and Underwood’s study of the attitudes of medical students to professionalism programs.1 In the context of similar issues at our university, we have recently implemented a professionalism program (“Ethical Practice–Empathic Practice” [EP2]) in our Doctor of Medicine (MD) course.

This program begins in the first full-time clinical year (Year 2) as weekly small-group tutorials facilitated by experienced and trained tutors (all of whom are practising doctors) who take the same small group for the year. The tutorials alternate between student-led discussions on specific professionalism topics and opportunities for discussion of real cases and situations from the group’s clinical experience. Summative assessment consists of three reflective pieces on topics chosen by the student and a presentation on their year-long interactions with a patient with chronic illness. The student’s tutor provides both written and face-to-face feedback on these components. The professionalism program continues in Year 3 and Year 4 of the degree. In addition to this small-group mentoring model, the medical school detects and remediates unprofessional behaviour through referral to a fitness-to-practise committee.

By aligning curriculum and assessment to student experiences in the clinical environment, and facilitating discussion using trained clinician role models, we believe we have constructed a program that fulfils the characteristics of an ideal professionalism program described in the editorial by Symonds and Talley.2 Early evaluation data suggest that students value this program,3 but the true outcome will be their behaviour in practice.

Authors

  • Geoffrey J McColl1
  • Barbara D Goss1
  • Eleanor M Flynn1
  • Agnes E Dodds1
  • 1. Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC.

Correspondence: gjmccoll@unimelb.edu.au

Competing interests

No relevant disclosures.

References

View this article on Wiley Online Library

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