Recommended sanctions for lapses in professionalism by student and faculty respondents to Dundee Polyprofessionalism Inventory I: Academic Integrity in one medical school in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: At a time when the Committee of Deans of the Medical Schools in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is entering the second phase of developing Learning Outcomes for Bachelor Degree Programs in Medicine, we investigated the current level of understanding of the importance of academic probity in one Saudi medical school.

Methods: We administered the Dundee Polyprofessionalism Inventory I: Academic Integrity to students and faculty at one Saudi medical school.

Results: While there was considerable concordance between the 103 Saudi students and 64 Saudi faculty, there were also some aspects of lapses in professionalism relating to academic integrity where enhanced teaching is indicated to help the students prepare for their responsibilities as doctors.

Conclusion: These data may begin to help focus teaching about professionalism in the Saudi medical school and inform the refinement of Learning Outcomes for Bachelor Degree Programs in Medicine in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The generalizability of the findings needs to be further tested to see if mapping of Professionalism learning in relatively homogenous populations such as a medical school can be robustly conducted with well-constructed stratified, representative reference groups.

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