Professionalism education should reflect reality: findings from three health professions

Abstract

The conceptual complexity identified in the findings suggests that the use of 'professionalism' as a descriptor, despite its vernacular accessibility, may be problematic in educational applications in which greater precision is necessary. It may be better to assume that 'professionalism' as a discrete construct does not exist per se, and to focus instead on specific skills, including the ability to identify appropriate behaviour, and the organisational requirements necessary to support those skills.

Occupational Therapy Employers’ Perceptions of Professionalism

“…Green, Zick, and Makoul (2009) stressed that the terms used to explain professionalism tend to be abstract, and the behavioral signs of professionalism must be more clearly defined to make the competency tangible. Burford, Morrow, Rothwell, Carter, and Illing (2014) similarly suggested a focus on skills and identifying appropriate behavior.…”

“…The semi-structured interview guide (see Appendix) included demographic information and questions adapted from contexts of professionalism by Hodges et al (2011) and Burford et al (2014) to gain a better understanding of professionalism and professional behaviors desired in three different contexts. The initial prompts were:…”

Hvordan kan legestudiet ivareta grunnleggende profesjonelle verdier?

“…Forsøk på å beskrive ulike dimensjoner av profesjonell kompetanse har resultert i lange lister med begreper fra «core knowledge» og «procedural skills» til 1. Begrepet lar seg neppe definere presist (Bryden, Ginsburg, Kurabi, & Ahmed, 2010;Burford, Morrow, Rothwell, Carter, & Illing, 2014). En systematisk gjennomgang av litteraturen fra de siste 20 årene viste da også betydelig sprik i hva ulike forfattere legger i medisinsk profesjonalitet (Birden, Glass, Wilson, Harrison, Usherwood, & Nass, 2014).…”

From the professionalism of a profession to the professionalism of a multiprofessional team

“… in this issue provides valuable insight into the broad concept of ‘health care professionalism’. Using a qualitative approach, the authors examine understandings of professionalism, sources of understanding, judgements of professional and unprofessional behaviours, and the development of professionalism among students and educators in the paramedicine, occupational therapy and podiatry professions in the UK. In doing so, they allow comparisons between their findings and ‘medicine's perspective’.…”

“…Such professionalisation, usually seen in maturing professions, was observed in medicine in the past through its transition from a vocation to a profession with emerging specialisations. It will be important to follow up on how the depth, breadth and scope of professionalism change with the growth of the professions focused upon in this study over the coming years if indeed the concept of professionalism is used to form profession‐specific identity.…”