Professionalism among paramedic students: achieving the measure or missing the mark?

Area of Science:

• Paramedicine Education
• Healthcare Professionalism
• Competency Assessment

Background:

• Professionalism is a core tenet of paramedicine, encompassing cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains.
• Existing literature indicates a need for enhanced focus on professional attributes among paramedic students, practitioners, and patients.
• There is limited reporting on specific competency measures for professionalism within paramedicine.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a scoping review to identify valid and reliable assessment tools for professional behaviors in paramedicine.
• To outline existing instruments used to evaluate paramedic professionalism.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Arksey and O'Malley's six-stage scoping methodology.
• Conducted a comprehensive literature search across five databases (MEDLINE, Scopus, Google Scholar, PsycINFO/APA, EMBASE) in September 2016.
• Screened 1587 articles, with five meeting the inclusion criteria.

Main Results:

• Identified three distinct scales for measuring professionalism in paramedicine from five included studies.
• Two scales were recommended for use: a US-based 11-item scale and a UK-based 77-item scale.
• The UK scale identified 11 factors within 68 items.

Conclusions:

• This review highlights the availability of valid and reliable measures for assessing professionalism in paramedicine.
• Two key instruments, an 11-item evaluation and a 77-item self-reported questionnaire, are currently available.
• The findings support the development and implementation of standardized professionalism assessments in paramedic education and practice.