Teaching and assessing professionalism in medicine

Abstract

Professionalism is the single most important of the clinical competencies. Lack of professional behavior, in turn, is the single most common cause for disciplinary action against third and fourth-year medical students, residents, fellows, and clinical practitioners. Desirable professional attributes include humility, honesty, responsibility, reliability, and accountability. The ability to preserve an appropriate balance between patient care responsibilities and personal commitments also is an important feature of professional behavior. Altruism, respectfulness, loyalty, compassion, sensitivity, and tactfulness are other desirable professional attributes. In addition, professionalism requires a heightened sense of intellectual curiosity, insight into personal strengths and weaknesses, maturity, and commitment to clinical excellence and self-directed learning. Professionalism can be taught and assessed through lectures, small-group seminars, role-playing exercises, directed reading, and one-on-one observation and counseling. However, the most effective way of teaching professionalism is for instructors to model appropriate behavior and to impose a consistent policy of zero tolerance for unprofessional behavior.