Defining Professionalism with SCoPE

By Shelley Burge, MS II

The Student Committee on Professionalism and Ethics (SCoPE) announces an initiative to create a school-wide definition of professionalism. SCoPE is an OASA student led committee. We will be working with student and faculty leadership organizations on this initiative, including the Faculty Senate Professionalism Taskforce.

This initiative grew out of our meetings with Drs. Sylvia and Richard Cruess, who visited our campus in November. The Cruesses have been instrumental to the research and promotion of professionalism education in medical curricula. They stressed the importance of an institutional definition as a common framework for teaching and practicing professionalism at all levels of medical education – from students to curriculum creators to clinical faculty. They explained that although we often assume those around us share our ideas about what professionalism means, there is actually wide variation in beliefs and values. If we are committed to teaching, learning and practicing professionalism at McGovern, agreeing on a definition is a critical foundation. After the Cruesses’ visit, we followed up by digging into the literature and checking out what other schools are doing. We found that the majority of medical schools (including UTMB, McGill, Dell and Stanford) have established definitions or standards of professionalism, in a variety of formats. We think it is time McGovern joined those ranks by creating a definition that captures what we as a school value most.

To create a definition that represents everyone in our community, we’ll start by casting a wide net asking students, residents, faculty and staff what they feel are the key components of professionalism. Based on the major themes picked up in the broad surveys, we will then hold focus groups with members of each cross section of our community to hone in on a clear, concise definition. We are open about the format and content of the final product – what matters most is creating a statement that all of us at McGovern can identify with and feel proud to call our own. Once it is established, the definition will give us a common language and serve as a guiding principle for students, residents, faculty and staff to hold ourselves to. It will shape our ongoing development of professionalism in the curriculum and aid our ethical decision making. We hope to roll out the final version by the start of the 2019 fall semester.

At this point you must be thinking, “Wow, SCoPE committee, what a great idea! How can I get involved?” We’re glad you asked, because we won’t be able to do it without you! First, complete a short survey from SCoPE about your definition of professionalism, which is linked here and will be emailed to you as well. No matter what your role is at McGovern, we want to hear from you! Second, if you are interested in being even more involved as part of a focus group, get in touch with us at [email protected].