Abstract
Introduction: Role models have an important impact on the professional behavior of medical students. Previous investigations help us understand how to improve role modelling. However, studies aiming at enhancing role modelling among clinical educators are very limited and generally lack comprehensive evaluations of the designed programs. We intended to gather robust evidence on the effectiveness of a longitudinal program for enhancing role modelling.
Methods: Clinical educators were divided into intervention and control groups. The longitudinal program, developed based on the exposure phase of the ‘Positive Doctor Role Modelling’ framework, was delivered during three months of onsite and online sessions. The effectiveness of the program was assessed in three levels of reaction, learning, and behavior.
Results: In the intervention group (N = 18), the mean score of satisfaction was 4.7 (SD = 0.5), and the learning (awareness about role modelling) improved significantly after the program (3.33–4.34), comparing to the control group (3.53–3.63). There was no significant difference in terms of behavior improvement between the two groups, before and after the program.
Conclusions: Our findings indicate that our longitudinal faculty development program on role modelling was highly appreciated by clinical educators, and improved their awareness and deliberate role modelling.
Acknowledgments
We thank all faculty members who participated in this study, particularly the ones who attended the role modelling program. We are, also, grateful to medical students, Mahdi Farhangian, Amirhosien Safavi, Mahmoud Khodadadegi, Aria Aminoroaya, Kasra Hatampour, Azin Teimourzadeh, and Kobra Aghazadeh, who helped us make inspiring video clips by sharing their interesting stories and experiences with their role models.
Disclosure statement
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.
Ethical approval
The study received approval from the Ethics Committee of Tehran University of Medical Sciences (No.IR.TUMS.MEDICINE.REC.1395.1807)
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Elaheh Mohammadi
Elaheh Mohammadi, MSc, PhD Candidate at Department of Medical Education, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Azim Mirzazadeh
Azim Mirzazadeh, MD, Associate Professor at Department of Internal Medicine and Department of Medical Education, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Amir Ali Sohrabpour
Amir Ali Sohrabpour, Associate Professor at Liver and Pancreatobiliary Diseases Research Center, Digestive Disease Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Hooman Shahsavari
Hooman Shahsavari, MSc, PhD, Assistant Professor at Medical-Surgical Department, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Mehdi Yaseri
Mehdi Yaseri, PhD, Associate Professor at Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Sara Mortaz Hejri
Sara Mortaz Hejri, MD, PhD, AFAMEE. Assistant Professor at Department of Medical Education, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Postdoctoral Researcher at Institute of Health Sciences Education at McGill University, Montreal, Canada.