Professionalism in the health sciences: lessons learned from its definition, evaluation, and teaching in a medical school

Psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, 701 West Pratt Street, Room 322, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA. jtalbott@psych.umaryland.edu

For the past 15 years, the medical profession has been concerned about the professionalism, or lack thereof, exhibited by many physicians, and similar concerns are evident for the broad scope of health professions. This article summarizes the efforts of one school of medicine to define the problem, embark on a program to improve the situation, and evaluate its progress. Because the author's experience is within the realm of human medicine and the education of medical students, the article has been written from this perspective, but it is hoped that readers in the other health professions will find this account of benefit. While the vignettes presented here are taken from human medicine, readers in other health professions should be readily able to translate them into their own spheres of interest.

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