Successful instillation of professionalism in our future doctors

Abstract

Dynamic approaches are required in teaching professionalism to medical students. Awareness of this issue has both arisen from and generated by a dramatic increase in publications relating to professionalism teaching in medical education. This report explores the current state of defining professionalism and shows that current literature reveals a strong proclivity to adopting "Communities of Practice" as the learning paradigm most likely to successfully instil professional values. This pedagogy is then critiqued with regards to the requirement of an undergraduate curriculum with the conclusion that Communities of Practice should be pertinent to successfully empowering medical students' professionalism.

Mindfulness practice correlates with reduced exam-induced stress and improved exam performance in preclinical medical students with the “acting with awareness”, “non-judging” and “non-reacting” facets of mindfulness particularly associated with improved exam performance

“…Excess stress in the short term may lead to sleeping disturbances and poorer academic performance [ 6 ], with exam-induced stress shown to predict academic performance in medical students [ 7 ], which may have further adverse effects on students’ academic and emotional wellbeing. This is particularly relevant to early years medical students who tend to be exam-orientated [ 8 , 9 ]. Chronic stress may increase students’ risk of cardiovascular disease, immune dysfunction, neuroendocrine dysregulation, and subsequent mental health disorders later in life [ 10 ].…”