Designing and Piloting a Professionalism Curriculum for Undergraduate Medical Students at the Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University

Salem, Amira; Kassab, Salah Eldin; Talaat, Wagdy; Hassan, Nahla

doi:10.21608/scumj.2022.272383

Designing and Piloting a Professionalism Curriculum for Undergraduate Medical Students at the Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Department of Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Egypt.

² Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Egypt.

³ Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Egypt.

10.21608/scumj.2022.272383

Abstract

Background: Professionalism is constituting those attitudes and behaviors that place the patient’s interest above those of the physician. The teaching of professionalism to medical students, and interns and throughout continuous professional development has recently come under fire. The teaching of professionalism to medical students, interns, and continuous professional development has recently been emphasized. These calls are the consequence of public complaints about the performance of medical physicians in areas within their direct authority. Aim: Developing and piloting a course in professionalism spanning vertically across 6 years in the medical curriculum for undergraduates at the Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University (FOMSCU) to prepare students for future careers to improve health outcomes. Material and Methods: a quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test, where qualitative and quantitative data collection tools were used to assess general needs and the needs of the target learners. Semi-structured interviews, focus groups, “Learners’ Attitude of Medical Professionalism Scale (LAMPS)”, self-assessment questionnaire, course evaluation questionnaire, and course experience questionnaire (CEQ) were used. Results: Our study revealed a higher perception of professionalism in first-year students in our results indicating the effectiveness of our educational intervention. The overall satisfaction level of first-year medical students was 2.5 (out of 4) which characterizes the students as generally ‘satisfied’. Conclusion: Students were generally satisfied with the introduced professionalism course. There is a need to integrate professionalism into the curriculum for undergraduate medical students to focus on professionalism issues across the curriculum and to adapt to changing physician needs.

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