A Literature Review of Professionalism in Surgical Education: Suggested Components for Development of a Curriculum

Background While it is evident that a surgeon must master medical knowledge and technical skill, there are other “soft skills” that are essential to a successful surgeon. One of these skills is professionalism . The challenge in surgical education lies in developing an effective professionalism curr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of surgical education 2013-05, Vol.70 (3), p.408-422
Main Authors: Deptula, Peter, BA, Chun, Maria B.J., PhD
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
assessment
Clinical Competence
Communication
Curriculum
education
Educational Measurement
General Surgery - education
Humans
Interpersonal and Communication Skills
Interpersonal Relations
Patient Care
Professional Practice
professionalism
Surgery
teaching
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Summary:Background While it is evident that a surgeon must master medical knowledge and technical skill, there are other “soft skills” that are essential to a successful surgeon. One of these skills is professionalism . The challenge in surgical education lies in developing an effective professionalism curriculum and a related method of evaluation. Objective Our review updates the literature and provides recommendations for improving instruction and evaluation of professionalism. Design A literature review was conducted using PubMed , Google Scholar , and Web of Knowledge . We restricted our search to documents published from 2009 to 2012 that address methods of teaching and tools for assessing professionalism in surgical education. Results Sixty-three documents were reviewed, with 14 fitting our search criteria for professionalism in surgical education completely. Other articles focused on the topics of professionalism in surgery, medical professionalism, and professionalism education in medical specialties other than surgery. Conclusions Development of a professionalism curriculum for surgical residents might begin with defining professionalism in terms of tangible behaviors. The program might also include a precurriculum preparatory course and simulation-based training. Residency programs must also maintain professionalism among its faculty. Assessment in the form of multisource feedback that is consistent with observable behavioral definitions of professionalism should also be considered in evaluating resident professionalism.
ISSN:1931-7204
1878-7452
DOI:10.1016/j.jsurg.2012.11.007