Original Article

Professionalism among medical residents in a young second-level university in Iran: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Professionalism is a set of behaviors that build trust in physicians’ relationships with patients and the public. The aim of this study was to assess professionalism among residents in Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.
This cross-sectional study was conducted on 139 residents recruited through the census method. Data were collected using the American Board of Internal Medicine Professionalism Questionnaire. The first part of the questionnaire was on residents’ personal characteristics, and the second part contained fifteen items in the three domains of professionalism, namely excellence, honor/integrity, and altruism/respect. The mean scores of the questionnaire and its domains were calculated and their relationships with residents’ personal characteristics were evaluated.
The mean scores (± SD) of professionalism and its excellence, honor/integrity, and altruism/respect domains were 4.93 ± 2.4, 5.92 ± 1.85, 4.94 ± 3.39, and 4.35 ± 3.27, respectively (in a range of 0 -10). Professionalism had significant relationships only with residents’ specialty and gender.
The level of professionalism in residents was low, which requires the attention of educational authorities. Moreover, the mean score of professionalism among residents in surgical specialties was significantly lower than non-surgical specialties. Various factors can be considered in this regard and it cannot be concluded that the lower score means worse professional behavior.

Büke AS, Öztürkçü OSK, Yılmaz Y, Sayek I. Core professionalism education in surgery: a systematic review. Balkan Med J. 2018; 35(2): 167–73.

Aramesh K, Mohebbi M, Jessri M, Sanagou M. Measuring professionalism in residency training programs in Iran. Medical Teacher. 2009; 31(8): 356-1.

Lynch DC, Surdyk PM, Eiser AR. Assessing professionalism: a review of the Literature. Medical Teacher. 2004; 26(4): 366-73.

Asghari F, Nikavaran Fard N, Atabaki A. Are we proper role models for students? Interns' perception of faculty and residents' professional behavior. Postgraduate Medical Journal. 2011; 87(1030): 519-23.

Papadakis MA, Teherani A, Banch M, et al. Disciplinary action by medical boards and prior behaviour in medical school. N Engl J Med. 2005; 353: 2673-82.

Papadakis MA, Hodgson CS, Teherani A, Kohatsu ND. Unprofessional behavior in medical school is associated with subsequent disciplinary action by a state medical board. Acad Med. 2004; 79(3): 244–9.

Papadakis MA, Arnold GK, Blank LL, Holmboe ES, Lipner RS. Performance during internal medicine residency training and subsequent disciplinary action by state licensing boards. Ann Intern Med. 2008; 148(11): 869–76.

Conran RM, Powell SZ, Domen RE, et al. Development of professionalism in graduate medical education: a case-based educational approach from the college of American pathologists' graduate medical education committee. Acad Pathol. 2018; 5: 2374289518773493.

Lee FY, Yang YY, Hsu HC, et al. Clinical instructors' perception of a faculty development programme promoting postgraduate year-1 (PGY1) residents' ACGME six core competencies: a 2-year study. BMJ Open. 2011; 1: e000200.

Domen RE, Talbert ML, Johnson K, et al. Assessment and management of professionalism issues in pathology residency training: results from surveys and a workshop by the graduate medical education committee of the college of American pathologists. Acad Pathol. 2015; 2(3): 2374289515592887.

Hoonpongsimanont W, Sahota PK, Chen Y, et al. Physician professionalism: definition from a generation perspective. International Journal of Medical Education. 2018; 9: 246–52.

Malakoff GL, Payne CL, Staton LJ, Kolade VO, Panda M. Accounting for professionalism: an innovative point system to assess resident professionalism. J Community Hosp Intern Med Perspect. 2014; 4(2): 10.3402/jchimp.v4.23313.

Goldie J. Assessment of professionalism: a consolidation of current thinking. Med Teach. 2013; 35(2): e952-6.

Bryan RE, Krych AJ, Carmichael SW, Viggiano TR, Pawlina W. Assessing professionalism in early medical education: experience with peer evaluation and self-evaluation in the gross anatomy course. Ann Acad Med Singapore. 2005; 34(8):486-91.

Arnold L, Shue CK, Kalishman S, et al. Can there be a single system for peer assessment of professionalism among medical students? A multi-institutional study. Acad Med. 2007; 82(6): 578-86.

DeLisa JA, Foye PM, Jain SS, Kirshblum S, Christodoulou C. Measuring professionalism in a physiatry residency training program. American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2001; 80(3): 225-9.

Ahadi T, Mianehsaz E, Raissi G, Moraveji SA, Sharifi V. Professionalism in residents of physical medicine and rehabilitation in Iran. J Med Ethics Hist Med. 2015; 8: 3.

Askarian M, Ebrahimi Nia MJ, Sadeghipur F, Danaei M, Momeni M. Shiraz medical students' perceptions of their colleagues' professional behavior. J Adv Med Educ Prof. 2015; 3(3): 111-6.

Files
IssueVol 13 (2020) QRcode
SectionOriginal Article(s)
DOI https://doi.org/10.18502/jmehm.v13i1.2463
Keywords
Professionalism; Residency; Surveys; Questionnaires; Iran

Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
1.
Mianehsaz E, Tabatabaee SM, Sharif MR, Gilasi HR, Shojaee HR, Nejad Tabrizi B. Professionalism among medical residents in a young second-level university in Iran: a cross-sectional study. J Med Ethics Hist Med. 2020;13.