Student Perceptions of the Professional Behavior of Faculty Physicians

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Professionalism in Medicine
• Clinical Faculty Development

Background:

• Understanding clinical faculty professionalism is crucial for medical education.
• Medical students' perspectives offer valuable insights into physician behavior.
• Previous research has not fully captured student perceptions of faculty professionalism.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a baseline understanding of clinical faculty physicians' professional behavior.
• To gather medical students' perspectives on faculty professionalism during clerkships.
• To provide objective feedback to faculty regarding their role modeling of professionalism.

Main Methods:

• Medical students evaluated supervising faculty physicians.
• Evaluations were completed at the end of each third-year clerkship.
• Data were analyzed by specific behaviors and across different clerkship disciplines.

Main Results:

• Professionalism transgressions varied in frequency by clerkship discipline.
• The most frequent issues included derogatory language and disrespectful treatment of others.
• Student perceptions highlighted specific areas for faculty improvement in role modeling.

Conclusions:

• Faculty professionalism is perceived differently across medical disciplines.
• Derogatory language and disrespect are significant concerns from student viewpoints.
• This feedback can guide faculty development initiatives in medical professionalism.