Prof Mohamed Alrukban, professor of family medicine in King Saud University. he presented a talk on professionalism for male students at Alfarabi Medical College on 19th of October, 2016.

1. Professionalism
in
Medicine
By
Dr. Mohammed O. Al-Rukban
Associate Professor
Family Medicine Consultant

2. Do You Still Remember A Role Model
Who Influenced Your Training?
If Yes? Mention Some of Their
Qualities and Attributes.

3. What does professionalism means
to you?
• Take a few minutes and write down your
thoughts … as a definition or description.

4. What is Professionalism?
• It is not easy to define a profession, but it
is likely to have all or Some of the
following characteristics:
– It is a vocation or calling that implies service to
others
– It has a distinctive knowledge base which is kept
up to date
– It determines its own standards and sets its own
examinations
– It has a special relationship with those whom it
serves e.g. patients, students….
– It has particular ethical principles

5. • Professionalism is a term which
embodies numerous qualities of
physicians as public servants.
• It has been described by The American
Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) as:
“Constituting those attitudes and
behaviors that serve to maintain others
interest above physician Self-interest”

6. ‫بطبعه‬ ٌ‫ي‬‫مهن‬ ‫المسلم‬ ‫الطبيب‬
”‫خصاصة‬‫بهم‬ ‫كان‬ ‫ولو‬ ‫أنفسهم‬‫على‬ ‫ويؤثرون‬“
”‫يتقن‬ ‫أن‬‫عمل‬ ‫إذا‬‫العامل‬‫من‬ ‫يحب‬ ‫هللا‬ ‫إن‬“
”‫الذبحة‬‫أحسنوا‬‫ف‬ ‫ذبحتم‬ ‫إذا‬.........“
”‫لنفسه‬ ‫يحب‬ ‫ما‬ ‫ألخيه‬ ‫يحب‬ ‫حتى‬‫أحدكم‬‫يؤمن‬ ‫ال‬..“

7. 'Project Professionalism' (ABIM, 2001)
Developed the Physician Charter and
identified six key elements of
professionalism:
1- Altruism (giving priority to patient interests
rather than self-interests);
2- Accountability (being answerable to
patients, society and profession);
3- Excellence (conscientious effort to perform
beyond ordinary expectation, and
commitment to life-long learning);

8. 'Project Professionalism' (ABIM, 2001)
4- Duty (free acceptance of commitment to
service – i.e. undergoing inconvenience to
achieve a high standard of patient care);
5- Honor and integrity (being fair, truthful,
straightforward, and keeping to one's
work);
6- Respect for other (respect for patients and
families, colleagues, other healthcare
professionals and students and trainees).

9. The concept of professionalism
includes the following values:
Honesty
Trust
Service
Commitment
Communication
Accountability
Life-long learning

10. Defining Professionalism
What specific behaviors are
unprofessional in
classroom and clinical settings?

11. Examples of Unprofessional
Behaviors
Classroom Setting-Students/Trainee
• Arriving for class late and/or leaving early
• Being unprepared for group sessions
• Not completing assigned tasks
• Disrupting class sessions
• Failing to attend scheduled class sessions
• Cheating on an exam

12. Examples of Unprofessional
Behaviors
Classroom Setting-Students/Trainees
• Using Mobile Phone during class
• Chatting during class
• Focusing on the test vs. learning
• Prejudging content in advance
• Intolerance of the opinions of others

13. Examples of Unprofessional
Behaviors
Classroom Setting-Faculty
• Plagiarism
• Judgmental attitude or favoritism
• Coming late
• Sloppy handouts and syllabi
• Abusive behavior
• Using Mobile Phone during class

14. Examples of Unprofessional
Behaviors:
Clinical Setting-Students
• Dressing inappropriately
• Avoiding work and/or responsibilities
• Exhibiting little empathy for patients
• Demonstrating lack of sensitivity to patients’
cultural backgrounds
• Not protecting patient confidentiality

15. Examples of Unprofessional
Behaviors:
Clinical Setting: Faculty
• Showing favoritism
• Failing to attend scheduled sessions
• Using inappropriate language or behavior
• Asking learners to perform personal tasks, for
example, picking up laundry

16. Common Examples
• Marketing for a new drug?
• Conflicts between government vs private
commitments.

17. Signs and Symptoms
 The work of Project Professionalism
(ABIM, 2001) describes unprofessional
behaviour in terms of seven broad
categories of 'signs and symptoms'.
1- Abuse of power (abuse while interacting
with patients and colleagues; bias and
sexual harassment; and breach of
confidentiality);
2- Arrogance (offensive display of
superiority and self-importance);
3- Greed (when money becomes the driving
force);

18. Signs and Symptoms
4- Misrepresentation (lying, which is
consciously failing to tell the truth; and fraud,
which is conscious misrepresentation of
material fact with the intent to mislead);
5- Impairment (any disability that may prevent
the physician from discharging his/her
duties);
6- Lack of conscientiousness (failure to fulfill
responsibilities);
7- Conflicts in interests (self-promotion/
advertising or unethical collaboration with
industry; acceptance of gifts; and misuse of
services – overcharging, inappropriate
treatment or prolonging contact with
patients).

19. How professionalism can be
implemented?

20. Professionalism
• Role of the doctor within
the health service
– Understanding of the
health care system
– Understanding of clinical
responsibilities
– Appreciation of doctor as
researcher
– Appreciation of doctor as
mentor or teacher
– Appreciation of doctor as
manager including quality
control
– Team working
• Personal Development
– Lifelong Learner
– Self awareness
– Self confidence
– Self regulation
• Self care
• Self control
• Personal time
management
– Motivation
• Achievement drive
• Commitment
• initiative
– Career choice

21. Take Home Messages
• Professionalism should be part of the
formal curriculum
• Professionalism must be taught and
assessed
• Professionalism must be relevant to the
society it serves

22. Final Word
“There is a tendency to
underemphasize the personal
characteristics… , because they are
harder to measure, and to
overemphasize the more easily
measured indices of academic
achievement”
Cohen (2002)