Document Detail


The anatomy of the professional lapse: bridging the gap between traditional frameworks and students' perceptions.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  12063195     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
PURPOSE: To support students' developing professionalism, it is necessary to understand the professional challenges and dilemmas they perceive in the clinical setting. This study systematically documented and catalogued students' reports of professional lapses. METHOD: Six focus groups were conducted with senior medical students (n = 29) at three universities. Using a grounded-theory approach, three researchers analyzed the students' reports of specific lapses in professionalism for recurrent themes. The resulting coding structure was applied using NVivo qualitative data analysis software. RESULTS: A total of 120 pages of text yielded 48 specific incidents of professional lapses, which were analyzed by three researchers using grounded theory. Most incidents were witnessed (n = 34) or known about (n = 4), as opposed to self-reported (n = 10). Six critical "issues" emerged: communicative violations (to or about patients or other health care professionals); role resistance (individuals chafing against constraints or expectations of their perceived roles); objectification of patients (ignoring patients or treating patients as vehicles for learning); accountability (to colleagues or patients, including avoiding patients, failing to disclose information, or failing to treat appropriately); physical harm (to patients or others); and crossfire (being put in the middle of a struggle between superiors). CONCLUSIONS: This study explored how students experienced and operationalized professionalism in clinical settings at a variety of universities. Interestingly, the critical issues they reported as salient did not map easily onto standard, abstract definitions of professionalism. This incongruence suggested that the development of effective curricula in this domain must bridge the gap between traditional taxonomies and students' perceptions of professionalism.
Authors:
Shiphra Ginsburg; Glenn Regehr; David Stern; Lorelei Lingard
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges     Volume:  77     ISSN:  1040-2446     ISO Abbreviation:  Acad Med     Publication Date:  2002 Jun 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2002-06-13     Completed Date:  2002-07-12     Revised Date:  2006-11-15    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  8904605     Medline TA:  Acad Med     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  516-22     Citation Subset:  AIM; E; IM    
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Mount Sinai Hospital, ON M5G 1X5, Canada.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Canada
Ethics, Clinical*
Focus Groups
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Humans
Physician's Role
Physician-Patient Relations
Professional Competence*
Professional Misconduct
Social Perception
Social Responsibility
Students, Medical / psychology*
United States

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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