Can professionalism be taught? Encouraging evidence

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training
• Competency-Based Education

Background:

• Teaching Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) competencies in Professionalism and Communication is challenging for surgical residency programs.
• This study explored innovative teaching methods for these critical skills.
• The research aimed to assess if residents assimilated and applied curriculum concepts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the effectiveness of a novel curriculum in enhancing surgical residents' Professionalism and Communication skills.
• To evaluate the assimilation and application of learned concepts by residents.

Main Methods:

• A six-station Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) with standardized patients was used for baseline and post-curriculum assessment.
• Residents participated in a six-session interactive curriculum focused on key communication and professionalism topics.
• Standardized patients rated residents using a strict checklist before and after the curriculum.

Main Results:

• Improvement in Professionalism competencies was statistically significant (P = .029).
• Improvement in Communication competencies also achieved statistical significance (P = .011).
• Residents demonstrated measurable gains in assessed skills post-curriculum.

Conclusions:

• A well-designed curriculum can effectively teach Professionalism and Communication competencies to surgical residents.
• The learned skills positively impact resident-physician interactions with patients.
• The findings support the integration of such curricula in surgical training programs.