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
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 ...
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.
Competing interests
No relevant disclosures.
References
- Birden HH, Usherwood T. “They liked it if you said you cried”: how medical students perceive the teaching of professionalism. Med J Aust 2013; 198: 406-409. 0_CHDBACFA
- Symonds IM, Talley NJ. Can professionalism be taught? Med J Aust 2013; 198: 380-381. 0_i1142862
- Reid K, Dodds A. Evaluation of Principles of Clinical Practice 2 (technical report). Melbourne: University of Melbourne, 2013. 0_i1142864