Emergency medicine residents’ and medical students’ perspectives about emergency medicine professionalism

¹Department of Emergency Medicine, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, Korea
²Department of Medical Education, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, Korea
³Department of Medical Education, Jeju National University School of Medicine, Jeju, Korea
⁴Department of Medical Education and Medical Humanities, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
⁵Department of Emergency Medicine, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Correspondence

Kyung Hye Park ,Tel: 033-741-0242, Fax: 033-742-5034, Email: erdoc74@gmail.com,

Received: October 5, 2018; Revised: December 3, 2018 Accepted: December 26, 2018. Published online: June 30, 2019.

ABSTRACT

Objective:
This study investigated and compared the perspectives on emergency medicine (EM) professionalism competencies of medical students and EM residents. In addition, how they learned their EM professionalism was also investigated to develop the base of an educational program of professionalism in the field of EM.
Method:
Medical students in four medical colleges/schools and EM residents were recruited for the questionnaire. Regarding the importance and educational need for EM professionalism, 23 items for medical students and 59 items for EM residents were asked. The items were rated on a five point Likert scale. The perspectives of the two groups were compared. The learning methods for professionalism were investigated.
Results:
A total of 198 medical students and 109 EM residents responded to the questionnaire. The residents responded with mean of 3.0 or more on all items, agreeing on the importance and educational need. On the other hand, the mean scale was less than 4.0 in communication and cooperation with society and social accountability. The students responded with a mean scale of 4.0 or more on all items and agreed on the importance and educational need. Of the 23 common items, there were differences between the two groups in 17 items, showing a higher mean value in the students. The most common methods of learning EM professionalism was bedside teaching during the clinical clerkship for students, and patient handover or board round for residents.
Conclusion:
EM residents tended to place more importance on medical care than social communication, cooperation, and ethical items. The most common learning method of EM professionalism was clinical practice-associated activities. The results of this study could help to develop a systematic and realistic educational program of EM professionalism in EM clerkship and resident training.

Key words: Medical student; Resident; Professionalism; Emergency medicine