Letters
Ethics
Volume 200 - Issue 1

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

Author:  Alexander M Owen

Med J Aust 2014; 200 (1): 22. || doi: 10.5694/mja13.11196
Published online: 20 January 2014
To the Editor: Birden and Usherwood’s article regarding medical students’ perceptions of the teaching of professionalism1 would have struck a chord with countless recent graduates from Australian medical schools. Being forced to reflect on one’s clinical experience is artificial; and after some trial and error by students (with respect to writing style and content), they develop an understanding of what will attain good marks, and submit ...
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To the Editor: Birden and Usherwood’s article regarding medical students’ perceptions of the teaching of professionalism1 would have struck a chord with countless recent graduates from Australian medical schools.

Being forced to reflect on one’s clinical experience is artificial; and after some trial and error by students (with respect to writing style and content), they develop an understanding of what will attain good marks, and submit a reflection with this aim only — regardless of how factual, or otherwise, such writing might be.

The ability to reflect on and learn from previous experience is vital to safe and effective clinical practice. But it cannot be taught any more than “effective communication” or “ethical practice” can be taught. Despite this, universities are placing increasing emphasis on these nebulous concepts at the expense of basic and clinical sciences. Moreover, it is unclear why universities choose to employ social workers and community representatives to teach medical students rather than use academics and practising clinicians. The overall result is a dilution of the curriculum such that, by the final year of medical school, students have mastered the art of scoring well for their contrived reflective essays, while much of the traditional medical curriculum needs to be self-taught.

Ultimately, all graduates realise that proficiency in professional practice is acquired not through reading text books or listening to lectures or writing essays, but from exposure to colleagues whose communication skills, ethics and professional standards we seek to emulate.

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