Developing professionalism in Italian medical students: an educational framework

Abstract

Developing and assessing professionalism in medical students is an international challenge. This paper, based on preliminary research at the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry of the University Sapienza of Rome, Italy, briefly summarizes the main issues and experiences in developing professionalism among Italian undergraduate medical students. It concludes with a proposed framework suited to the Italian medical curricula. In our educational system, professionalism is defined as the context of medical expertise, the combination of rules, conditions, and meanings in which the act of health care occurs, as well as the ability of critical reflection on technical expertise. It is a multidimensional construct of ethical, sociocultural, relational, and epistemological competencies, requiring a wide range of tools for assessment. With reference to Italian versions of validated tools of measure, vignettes, videos, and a student’s portfolio of reflective writings, this paper outlines the manner in which education for professionalism is embedded in the existing curriculum and overall framework of assessment.

Evaluation of the acceptability of Peer Physical Examination (PPE) in medical and osteopathic students: a cross sectional survey

“…The FMD established a framework for the assessment of professionalism, according to a multimodal longitudinal perspective [35]. Data from the questionnaire regarding students’ experiences with PPE will be integrated into this framework because these data can contribute to developing a portrait of each student’s attitudes and can be used in counselling students regarding their future choice of career.…”

Avaliação do profissionalismo em estudantes da área da saúde: uma revisão sistemática

“…In the latter study, the approach was centered on the use of the Conscientiousness Index (CI), which is one of the existing validated tools that are used to assess professionalism in terms of professional conduct and ethics (organization, responsibility, discipline, performance of tasks, among others). Both studies come close to the "Knows" and "Knows how" levels of Miller's adapted pyramid, as used to assess professionalism in the study by Consorti et al 15 .…”

A needs assessment survey of dental public health graduate education in Saudi Arabia

“…The description and details of the questionnaire used for this study are provided elsewhere (Al Agili, 2012). Briefly, the questions in Survey I addressed DPH competencies identified in 1997 by the American Association of Public Health Dentistry (AAPHD; AAPHD, 1998).…”

“…This assessment was conducted in two phases. The results from the first survey provided responses mainly from dentists holding academic positions at KAUFD, and these responses were previously published (Al Agili, 2012). The second phase of the assessment was conducted among professionals working in private and government public health agencies outside KAUFD.…”