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Perceptions of professionalism in medicine: a qualitative study
Author(s) -
Jha V,
Bekker H L,
Duffy S R G,
Roberts T E
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
medical education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.776
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1365-2923
pISSN - 0308-0110
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2929.2006.02567.x
Subject(s) - thematic analysis , excellence , medical education , qualitative research , compliance (psychology) , perception , psychology , altruism (biology) , trustworthiness , humanism , medicine , social psychology , sociology , social science , neuroscience , political science , law
Purpose Current guidelines for medical undergraduate education require students to develop appropriate attitudes towards professionalism. As much of the literature defines professionalism in vague terms − altruism, humanism, excellence − few studies have operationalised medical professionalism. This study aims to describe the views and experiences individuals have about medical professionalism to provide a more comprehensive understanding of medical professionalism. Methods An interview study of medical educators, medical students, doctors, allied health professionals and lay professionals was employed to assess views and experiences of professionalism in medicine. Thematic content analysis was applied to the resulting transcripts; the data were managed by nud * ist software. Results Twenty‐three people participated. Two types of examples about professionalism were provided: conceptual (honest, trustworthy, competent); behavioural (communicating effectively, treating patients equally, working in teams). Seven themes were elicited from the data: compliance to values, patient access, doctor–patient relationship, demeanour, professional management, personal awareness and motivation. Conclusion The study provided a description of views about medical professionalism. These data allowed for a more thorough conceptualisation which should be used to inform measures of medical professionalism in order to improve the validity of assessments of medical students' attitudes.