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9th Annual Meeting 
of the 
International Association of Medical Science Educators 

July 14-19, 2005
 

Abstract Category: Curriculum

Poster ID: C3

PROMOTING THE PRACTICE OF PROFESSIONALISM:  A PEDAGOGICAL INNOVATION

* Nehad I. El-Sawi, Ph.D., Tawnya  T. Johnson, M.A., Norbert W. Seidler, Ph.D. and Sandra K. Willsie, D.O., Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences – College of Osteopathic Medicine 1750 Independence Avenue , Kansas City , MO   64106 – U.S.A.

Physicians are expected to act professionally.  These expectations have led to a change in the national board licensing requirements for physicians; required documentation of clinical competence, including professionalism, was recently instituted in the form of an additional board examination.  Realizing the importance of professionalism in medical education, Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences (KCUMB) implemented an educational program; this program includes explicit instruction, evaluation and reinforcement of professional behavior.  The implementation of such a program was challenging as no clear standards for a comprehensive professionalism program in medical education exists.     

To address this challenge, faculty and staff members at KCUMB designed and implemented a comprehensive professionalism program during the fall of 2004.  In this program, first and second year students and advisors are provided with clear expectations about student performance:  360-degree evaluations are used to assess performance.   Students and advisors receive written feedback on performance following each semester in the form of a professionalism scorecard.  Scorecards provide students with an opportunity to learn from the process and to improve performance through counseling with their advisors.  These assessments will augment the heretofore exclusively third and fourth year assessments of professionalism provided in the Medical School Performance Evaluation (MSPE) report.  Finally, each class, as a whole, is evaluated at the end of the academic year.  Initial data, from the first semester, indicates that students are having fewer professional lapses and the number of exemplary acts is increasing as the program progresses.  However, more data is needed before final evaluation.  In addition to evaluating student progress and gathering feedback, the entire program will be reviewed at the end of the 2004-2005 school year. 

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