Medical students’ opinions on professional behaviours: The Professionalism of Medical Students’ (PoMS) study

Abstract

Introduction: The Professionalism of Medical Students (PoMS) study aimed to develop a comprehensive understanding of Australian and New Zealand (Aus/NZ) medical students’ opinions and experience with professionalism dilemmas.

Methods: A confidential, online survey for medical students was developed and distributed to all Aus/NZ medical schools. Students submitted de-identified demographic information, gave opinions on the acceptability of a range of student behaviours for professionally challenging situations, and whether they had encountered similar situations.

Results: 3171 medical students participated from all 21 Aus/NZ medical schools (16% of the total student population). Medical students reported encountering many of the professionally challenging situations and had varying opinions on what was acceptable behaviour for the scenarios. In general, students’ opinions were not influenced by the seniority, gender or the type of health professional involved in the scenario. Participant demographic factors appeared to have significant effects on professional opinions – particularly male gender and being a student in the latter stages of the course.

Discussion: Medical students’ professional opinions are a complex area. The PoMS data provides a reference point for students, their educators and other health professionals in identifying current student professional behaviour norms, determining the effects of demographic factors on their decision making, and where important gaps exist in medical students’ approaches to professionalism.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the following:

• the 3171 medical students who participated in the survey.

• the medical school faculties from all of the Australian/New Zealand medical schools who agreed to distribute the surveys to their students.

• the AMC working group and attendees at the ‘Professionalism Workshop’ at the Ottawa Medical Education 2016 conference who contributed to the survey content and design.

• Mr. James Humphreys (Women and Infants Research Foundation) for assistance with data preparation for analysis.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Glossary

The theory of planned behaviour states that an individual’s likelihood of engaging in a behaviour is influenced by three factors – their attitudes towards the behaviour, their perceptions of the social norms, and their perceived ability to perform the behaviour (Ajzen 1991).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

P. McGurgan

P. McGurgan, FRCOG, FRANZCOG, is a clinical academic. He is theme lead for Personal and Professional Development in the UWA MD course and chairs the Professional Behaviour Advisory Panel for UWA Faculty of Health Sciences. The PoMs research forms part of his PhD thesis on ‘What factors influence opinions about medical student professional behaviours?’

K. L. Calvert

K. Calvert, MHPEd, MRCOG, is a senior registrar in obstetrics and gynaecology and the medical education registrar at KEMH, Perth WA. She has a Masters in medical education and runs the junior doctor mentoring program for obstetrics and gynaecology.

K. Narula

K. Narula, MBBS, is a surgical registrar at Fiona Stanley Hospital (Perth, WA). He has a burgeoning interest in medical education and clinical redesign.

A. Celenza

A. Celenza, MClinEd, FACEM, FRCEM, is an academic clinician and was director of the MD program at the University of Western Australia for 8 years with leadership roles in curriculum design, teaching delivery, assessment, and evaluation. He continues to have clinical, educational and research interests as Professor and Head, Division of Emergency Medicine at UWA.

E. A. Nathan

E. A. Nathan, RN, B.Sci, M.Biostats (Syd), is a biostatistician at the Biostatistics and Research Design Unit, Women and Infants Research Foundation and Adjunct Senior Lecturer at UWA Division of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, based at King Edward Memorial Hospital. She has collaborated on many health care research projects applying a broad range of statistical methodologies.

C. Jorm

C. Jorm, PhD, FRANZCA, Christine’s PhD thesis explored why medical (doctor) culture resisted the imperatives of the safety and quality movement. A professor at University of Newcastle, Christine brings her experience as a clinician, policy maker, researcher and teacher to her current role as director of one of Australia’s translational research centres.