Learning medical professionalism – the application of appreciative inquiry and social media

Abstract

Background: Medical professionalism is often considered difficult to be clearly observed and learned. However, although most medical students or residents affirm the necessity of medical professionalism courses, few agree that those currently offered are adequate for a medical career. Objective: To develop a curriculum for teaching professionalism by enabling students to share positive examples of professionalism in social media that reflects the authentic experience in clinical environment. Design: Between October 2015 and June 2017, the authors developed a clerkship program to teach professionalism with the support of social media and appreciative inquiry. Medical students were required to write posts on the positive behaviors they observed during clinical practice in the Facebook group. Other students and course instructors commented or responded to the posted content. The content on Facebook analyzed by course instructors and was based on the definition of medical professionalism according to the 18 attributes proposed by Cruess et al. Results:In total, 103 medical students in their first clinical year participated and posted 435 records of role model learning in the Facebook group. The majority of students learned the most when the clinical instructors were passionate about their teaching and guidance in medical expertise; this accounted for 23.0% of all role model behaviors. Other attributes of professionalism that students appreciated most were being caring and compassionate (17.2%), competence (9.6%), openness (8.8%), and presence (7.7%). More than 90% of the students reported enjoying this type of course and would like to integrate their learning experiences into future behavior. Conclusions: This innovative training program was well accepted in the formal curriculum and the predesigned social media environment. Appreciative inquiry for medical professionalism should be integrated into the organizational culture and the culture of social media interaction. ARTICLE HISTORY

Family Medicine Residency Virtual Adaptations for Applicants During COVID-19

“…The authors even suggest that communication of essential physician qualities such as compassion and competence may be possible through social media. 12 We believe it is paramount that applicants seek out and engage with residency programs' social media accounts. In the present situation, virtual opportunities are one of the options applicants have to connect with program representatives, and social media appears to be engaging to medical students.…”

Teaching Professionalism to Medical Students Using Dissection-Based Anatomy Education: a Practical Guide

“…The use of online resources, such as an app, wiki forum or social media platform (e.g. Facebook), to teach professionalism has recently received attention within published literature [4,46,47]. Ninety per cent of students use social media, and 50% blogs or wikis, suggesting that these online resources represent a powerful and often neglected tool for implementing positive professional values in students.…”

“…The use of small-group wikis as a space to share resources relating to the student's professionalism learning objectives was found to foster positive group dynamics, create a shared knowledge base, encourage reflection on the quality of resources and lastly support the development of professional identities [46]. Additionally, Facebook has been found to be an effective and enjoyable platform for students to reflect and receive feedback on professional behaviours they witnessed during clinical practice [47].…”

“…Alternatively, wikis can be utilised within a group project aiming to foster teamwork, self-directed learning and commitment to excellence. The faculty should assign students into groups of approximately five: within this group, they are required to create a wiki outlining an anatomical topic chosen by either the students or faculty [46,47]. Using one or both of these online resources, students will learn key anatomical concepts, alongside developing their professional behaviours in a collaborative, engaging and innovative manner that will benefit their future practice.…”

RE: learning medical professionalism – the application of appreciative inquiry and social media

“…Firstly, we would like to thank Hsieh et al [1] for their insightful and necessary exploration into the application of appreciative inquiry models and social media, and its impact on medical professionalism teaching. As senior medical students interested in education, the article certainly piqued our curiosity.…”