gms | German Medical Science

Purpose: Ethics and professionalism are recognized as core competencies in medical practice worldwide. Several studies have investigated the teaching and learning methods for this subject. However, there are few reports on the students’ views and experiences with professionalism in their working environment. The aim of this study was to assess the professional attitudes and behaviours that exist in the health care environment as perceived by clinical clerks.

Methods: An anonymous paper questionnaire was distributed to a total of 134 final year clinical clerks. Standard descriptive statistics, unpaired t-test to evaluate differences between male and female groups were used.

Results: 114 (86%) completed the survey. Students frequently identified Health professionals whom that they consider role models (mean=6.68±2.126 on a scale of 0 to 9; and 6.62±2.17 respectively). They very frequently observed that health professionals place the needs of their patients ahead of their own self-interests 7.25±1.69 and 6.87±2.095 respectively. Students reported seldomly being urged by medical colleagues and allied healthcare workers to copy their history and physical exam rather than gathering their own information from the patient (mean 3.26±5.14 versus 2.83±3.19) or observing health professionals scheduling tests or performing procedures at times that are more convenient for themselves than for the patient (mean 3.37±-2.96 and 3.32±3.043 respectively). Male students more often observed unprofessional behaviours such using inappropriate reference to patients and making derogatory statements about other medical/surgical specialists (P<0.05) compared to female counterparts.

Conclusion: Students viewed physicians and allied healthcare workers positively, however, academic attention needs to be directed at ethical and professional dilemmas that are encountered during their training.