Sending messages: How faculty influence professionalism teaching and learning.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Curriculum Development
• Professionalism Studies

Background:

• Persistent ambiguity surrounds the definition and teaching of professionalism.
• Curriculum reform (CR) presents an opportunity to address these challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore senior faculty experiences in developing and integrating professionalism into a CR.
• To illuminate the challenges encountered during this process.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative case study approach.
• Data collection through faculty interviews and archived document analysis.
• Inductive thematic analysis for data coding and theme generation.

Main Results:

• Faculty may inadvertently convey mixed messages, impacting professionalism teaching.
• Intersecting tensions identified related to curriculum, staff knowledge, resources, and guidance.
• Lack of clear direction on 'what and how' to teach professionalism was a significant challenge.

Conclusions:

• Hidden messages and contextual factors significantly influence the integration of professionalism into curricula.
• Reflective practice is essential for those implementing professionalism.
• The "hidden curriculum" must be critically examined to understand its impact on curricular outcomes.