Twelve tips for developing professional attitudes in training

Abstract

This article is based on a workshop run at AMEE Lisbon, building on work from previous conferences and reported in Medical Teacher (Howe, 2002a). The 30 workshop participants were particularly asked to address the question 'What would you consider essential to include in a medical education curriculum that wishes to teach and assess professional development?'. This question was posed without further constraints, ie. regardless of whether undergraduate or postgraduate, the country or situation of the participant, and the type of setting in which they worked. Participants were invited to consider all aspects of the question, and no assumption was made about the need to reach a consensus. The workshop divided into two groups and shared ideas. This paper presents the main emergent points from discussion, for interest and further collaboration; the level of agreement was considerable, consistent with the peer reviewed literature (Howe, 2002b). The conclusions are therefore shared in the 'Twelve Tips' format as a pragmatic framework for those wishing to review their own curriculum with reference to professional development (PD) issues, or when setting up new opportunities.

Physiotherapy students' professional identity on the edge of working life

“…Educators are challenged to become aware of the range of professional identities that students may develop and the processes through which that may occur. With guidance and support students can be encouraged to identify and develop their least preferred ways of practice to enable a wider critical reflection on how they integrate knowledge gained from experience with knowledge possessed (Howe, 2003). This may assist the Empowerer to place more value on the evidence base of practice, the Educator to become prepared for changes in health care and the Treater to value knowledge gained from experience in different contexts.…”

Teaching professionalism in medical education: A Best Evidence Medical Education (BEME) systematic review. BEME Guide No. 25

“…Adoption of a focus less on narrow biomedical aspects of medical education and more on moral development (Novack et al 1999;Branch 2000;Wear & Castellani 2000;Howe 2002;Stern & Papadakis 2006); . Identification of critical and guided reflection as best teaching methods (Novack et al 1999;Branch 2000;Howe 2002;Kenny et al 2003;Stern & Papadakis 2006;Shapiro et al 2006a;van Mook et al 2009a) and role modelling (Branch 2000;Branch et al 2001;Howe 2002;Howe 2003;Kenny et al 2003;Coulehan 2005;Gracey et al 2005;Stern & Papadakis, 2006;Goldie 2008;van Mook et al 2009a); . The selection of students with well-developed humanist traits, thus more amenable to assimilating professional traits (Novack et al 1999;Wear & Castellani 2000;Gordon 2003); .…”

“…Teaching professionalism as experiential, not theoretical (Branch et al 2001;Kenny et al 2003b;Goldie 2008); . Professionalism should be embedded in entire curriculum (Branch 2000;Wear & Castellani 2000;Howe 2003;Goldie 2008).…”

“…There is disagreement in the literature regarding whether a standard curriculum for medical professionalism can be devised that will work in any medical education setting (Howe 2003;Remen & Rabow 2005a;Remen et al 2008), or whether such curricula must be devised specifically for an individual programme ).…”

Cross-year peer tutoring on internal medicine wards: results of a qualitative focus group analysis

“…Clinical reasoning expertise and professionalism evolve through repetitive practical experience and case-based reflection, as it has been described in the literature 29–32. Experienced members of the postgraduate staff serve as models for professionalism33 and are competent coaches for case-based reflections 34. Student–physician training is therefore definitively necessary to develop medical expertise.…”