Reframing Professionalism: The Virtuous Professional.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Professionalism Studies
• Healthcare Ethics

Background:

• Prevalent unprofessional behaviors in the 1990s prompted the development of the "The Virtuous Student Physician" curriculum at Michigan State University's College of Human Medicine.
• Students noted a disparity in professional standards between students and faculty, necessitating a broader approach to professionalism.
• A task force was convened to reframe professionalism for all members of the medical school community.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess faculty awareness of the existing student professionalism curriculum.
• To identify faculty-perceived professional weaknesses and challenges.
• To develop and implement a comprehensive professionalism curriculum for students, residents, and faculty.

Main Methods:

• Surveying faculty on their awareness of "The Virtuous Student Physician" and their perceived professional weaknesses.
• Establishing a task force to reframe professionalism using core virtues: Courage, Humility, and Mercy.
• Implementing routine, anonymous student evaluations of faculty professionalism.

Main Results:

• Most faculty were aware of the student professionalism curriculum.
• Faculty identified social responsibility as the most challenging attribute to achieve.
• Resolving problem behaviors with colleagues was identified as the most difficult professional behavior.

Conclusions:

• A new, inclusive curriculum "The Virtuous Professional" was developed, based on three core virtues.
• The faculty adopted new principles and practices, including student evaluation of faculty professionalism.
• Ongoing data collection from student evaluations will inform faculty development and address professionalism issues.