Patient perceptions of professionalism: implications for residency education

Abstract

Objectives The purpose of this study was three‐fold: to identify which behavioural, communicative and personal presentation characteristics most closely represent patients’ views of professionalism; to determine whether patients perceive resident doctors as displaying these characteristics, and to explore whether or not resident doctor professional behaviour creates an impression of clinical competence to the degree where patients perceive a decreased need for Attending Physician involvement. Methods We carried out a descriptive, cross‐sectional study at an academic centre. An anonymous, voluntary four‐question survey with multiple items was administered to all adult patients or the parents of paediatric patients attending an ophthalmology clinic who were seen by a resident doctor followed by an Attending Physician. Results A total of 133 of 148 (90%) surveys were returned. All the itemised characteristics of professionalism were reported to be important or very important to the majority of participants. The most important were: ‘Pays attention to my concerns’ (90%); ‘Is compassionate’ (83%), and ‘Speaks in terms that I can understand’ (83%). Although 85% of respondents reported that resident doctors demonstrated all the characteristics of professionalism listed on the survey, 83% of participants stated that it was important or very important that residents have Attending Physician involvement. Conclusions Patient‐centred components of professionalism, such as communication skills and compassion, are more important to patients than social behaviours, such as appearance and acknowledgement of family members. Resident doctors are perceived to display a high level of professionalism during patient care. Patients clearly desire direct resident doctor supervision by an Attending Physician.

Patients’ Perspectives on the Design of Hospital Outpatient Areas

“…Researchers investigated patients' perspectives on diverse aspects of care service: waiting time [20,21], interaction and interpersonal skills [21,22], professionalism [23,24], occupancy [25], patient preferences and expectations [26,27], coordination of care [22,28], education and information provision [22,29,30], emotional support [31,32], and quality of medical care [33,34].…”

Teaching of Medical Ethics: Students' perception in different periods of the course

“…In regard to that situation, some authors [18][19][20] report patient perceptions about the treatment received at the University Hospitals and reveal that the visits at the bedside are the only negative aspect, once they feel themselves like subjects under study. There must be ways to teach new doctors without embarrassing the patient.…”

Feasibility and Validation of Real-Time Patient Evaluations of Internal Medicine Interns' Communication and Professionalism Skills

“…Narrative patient feedback may explore what patients view as important in communication and professionalism. 31,32 Conclusion A 16-item patient evaluation assessing interns' communication and professionalism skills, and team communication was developed. A large number of evaluations are required to provide a reliable patient assessment of trainee communication skills, and this may be prohibitive for the implementation of such evaluations during training.…”