Background: Hearing directly from students, in the midst of the rotation, provides a unique view of students’ experiences and developing professionalism.
Methods: We conducted an IRB approved qualitative study analyzing professionalism themes from essays written on the required OBGYN Clerkship. Essays were analyzed from a total of 220 students and coded into 8 domains with subcategories. Inter-rater reliability was established with two coders with high levels of correlation Kappa’ Agreement Signif 95 CI Note 1 0.73 (0.57, 0.88). Frequencies were used for descriptive purposes.
Results: Most students chose to write about negative incidents of professionalism that they observed. The most common domain themes were: medical team dynamics (37%), patient interactions (39%), and inappropriate remarks about a patient (28%). A third of the essays also included an observation of a positive demonstration of professionalism, most commonly about prioritizing the patient\'s needs.
Discussions: Third year students often struggle with their transition to the wards. At this time, students also start to demonstrate decreased empathy. Repeated exposures to faculty behaviors shape student clinical behavior and can normalize unprofessional behavior. These essays provide a window into students’ real-time experiences and insight into how these experiences shape professional development. The act of writing requires that students process and reflect which creates an opportunity to improve the culture of professionalism. This study provides concrete examples to drive resident and faculty development and to reduce unprofessional behavior in the future.
Keywords: Communication Skills, Curriculum Development/Evaluation, Faculty Development, Healthcare Workforce, Interprofessional, Student Mistreatment
Topics: CREOG & APGO Annual Meeting, 2017, Student, Resident, Faculty, Clerkship Director, Osteopathic Faculty, Residency Director, Patient Care, Professionalism, Interpersonal & Communication Skills, GME, CME, UME, Quality & Safety, Faculty Development,
Katherine Lackritz, MD, Thomas Jefferson University; Andrea Braverman, PhD; Maheen Rana; Brooke Gaspari, MD; Abigail Wolf, MD
