Perhaps attendance and time management as measures of responsible behaviour should be evaluated separately from feedback on other aspects of professional behaviour, a suggestion that was also put forward during the plenary discussion at a recent symposium on professionalism (Centre for Excellence in Developing Professionalism 2010; van Mook and van Luijk 2010).
Therefore, we advise careful consideration of the evidence which doctors might submit relating to their professionalism, and caution in developing judicious and appropriate responses to evidence which suggest a doctor's performance to be unusual.
Our students expressed appreciation for the teaching and practice in feedback skills that was afforded to them, regarding the activity as an important educational tool in developing professionalism attributes [ 24, 25].
The challenge in surgical education lies in developing an effective professionalism curriculum and a related method of evaluation.
This paper reflects on views expressed by final year BCMP students in developing personal attributes of professionalism by assessing their ability to integrate theoretical knowledge with clinical experience and function as accountable, responsible and critically reflective practitioners.
Psychiatric educators have been engaged in developing innovative ethics training and in addressing professionalism issues in medical curricula at several institutions in the USA [ 61- 64].
At MNRH, several challenges interfere with being a good mentor: large patient loads, competing demands of teaching and providing service, and the difficulty in developing and evaluating valid strategies for transmitting professionalism [ 16].
As a result, we conclude that our research model holds for physicians embedded in the logic of medical professionalism thereby developing a defensively oriented competitive value commitment.
Additional research is needed to develop theory in professionalism and develop scales to measure other potentially useful dimensions such as professional development, critical thinking, and personal/professional balance.
As part of a complete curriculum renewal process, the professionalism leadership was charged with reviewing the professionalism program and developing recommendations for future implementation.
