Professionalism and Role Recognition

The competent graduate recognizes the powerful impact of his/her professional attitudes and behavior on others and consistently demonstrates the highest standards of excellence, duty, and accountability to the patient. The competent graduate values the humanity of all patients and does not exploit patients for personal gain. The competent graduate recognizes his/her role in working collaboratively with others to meet the health care needs of the individual and the community.

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Richard Frankel, Ph.D.
Competency Director, Professionalism and Role Recognition

Sample Learning Experiences:

• Critical incident reports—Students are asked to write for 5 minutes about a critical incident involving one professionalism topic. Sample topics for pre-clinical students might include issues such as: What is the appropriate dress for a student coming to class, on the wards or in the clinic? Should students be required to attend classes or simply perform adequately on exams? What would you do if you saw someone cheating on an exam? Plagiarizing? Collaborating on a take-home exam intended for individual response?
  

  For 10 minutes groups of four students discuss their potential responses. If time permits, small groups could be asked to report in order to round out the exercise. Over time, students might be encouraged to submit professionalism topics on which they would like to focus.

• During a large lecture course, students could be asked to turn to their neighbor and find a connection between the lecture topic and professional behavior. For example, in a course on pharmacology students could be asked to take turns sharing their thoughts about the use of generic drugs. Each student could talk for five minutes, with the other student listening carefully, and then reverse roles. At the end of ten minutes, the instructor could provide five more minutes and ask students to volunteer key thoughts they heard from their partner. These could be recorded on a flip chart or chalkboard. The instructor could note themes that emerge.

Bibliography

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