Professionalism

Professionalism

Professionalism for a student in a doctor of physical therapy program is the ability of the individual to display competence, knowledge and technical skills while demonstrating a capacity for clinical reasoning, values, emotions for the benefit of the community being served. Professionalism can also be described as the qualities that enable the patients to trust us. It entails identifying the defining attributes of being a healer and a professional which encompasses an understanding of what society expects of medicine and what medicine expects of society. Assured competence, integrity, molarity, accountability, transparency and altruistic services provide the skeleton of society’s expectation. As a physical therapist, this includes adherence to the prescribed code of ethical conduct, commitment to improvement and reliability, effective interactions with staff, service users and patients. These qualities have to be infused with the traditional practices of medicine which are associated with care giving.

The construct of professionalism encompasses the basics of reasoning and problem-solving approaches in the practice of medicine. This includes being receptive and responsive to changes in the field, understanding all ethical and legal approaches to the profession, self-awareness, sensitivity, and respect to all and developing an all-inclusive and multidisciplinary approach to the field. These are the qualities that embedded in the teaching and learning practices to ensure professional responsibility while cultivating integral values that ensure that any of the challenges encountered in the field will be solved. These principles define and form the bedrock of the medical professional which must extend to accommodate the dynamism of medical care. Hence an additional of elements to ensure that current trends in medical research and understanding are taken into account such as evidence based practices and patient participation through treatment choices.

As a student, it is first important to learn the differences between professionalism and humanism and their importance in medical education. Despite a commitment to patient’s interests, a number of issues such as the level that personal interests have a substantial stake in patient’s care and the levels of sacrifice a professional can be expected to take benefit a patient. These issues help draw a clear picture of the behavior of a medical professional. Medical students describe professionalism as technical competence and giving priority to the primacies of the patients. This description is further developed as learning advances into a physician’s duty to serve in a technically capable capacity. Placing this priority in the interests of the student implies an inclusive respect, confidentiality, shared decision making, compliance, and truthfulness.

The most significant concepts with regard to the best conduct of a physician have to be learned on the field and not in the classroom. Professionalism is taught most effectively through the influence of those they encounter in the course of their education relative to what is dictated in the classroom sessions. Mentoring and role modeling hence have an increasingly bigger role they can play as methods of formally delivering professionalism. I find the behavior observed by students and the effects of role models to in a large extent inform the professional persona. Students tend to be more vulnerable and impressionable and are likely to challenge behavior taught by educators which is considered inappropriate due to the influence and protection of the system. Self-creating a professional identity as a student will require a socialization process in medical education especially in the practice setting.

It is integral that in mastering this field of medicine that a higher level of comprehension founded on research and an intensive guided experience create a realm with distinct cultural and physical barriers. Professionalism expects that students challenge the knowledge we acquire in the classroom and as we continue to increase our understanding by facing simulated situations from which we are better placed as practitioners on making more complex decisions. There is a direct relationship between professionalism, situational relationship among patients and their doctors and the systems they are a part of. It is as a result of this meaningful relationship that experience is gained and that the knowledge acquired in the class setting is put into practice. These aspects of professionalism call for the development and appreciation of the influence of culture in the practice of medicine along with the barriers it poses.

For a professional, healthcare can not merely be equated to a business arrangement. In health care, it is the good of the patient that comes first despite the gradual growth of profits in health care. Commercialization of medicine has continued to become one of the biggest threats to professionalism. Entrepreneurial professionalism has continued to have serious ethical implication in the manner at which medicine is practiced, the quality of care of professionals and the decision-making process. It is, however, worth noting that professionalism can in this respect be defined as a social contract between medical professionals and the society. It is the meeting point between ethical and sociological accounts that brings about professionalism. The aspect of the social contract provides medical students with the understanding of professional ethics and physician self-regulation.

Professionalism for a student doctor includes the various ways an individual thinks of their approach to their practice, their life/work balance, how they engage with their patients and the ethical framework they operate within. Students participate in the active process of acquiring identity traits where learners develop into caregivers. Experience and training improve the professionalism of physicians, and this is brought about by the understanding of not what a professional is supposed to know or do but what these physicians must be. Developing professionalism requires the building of character. Character encompasses the natural attributes of morality, their sense of integrity and honesty. Students must hence become immersed in learning environments that are grounded in these professional ideals. This argument is particularly important in creating conditions conducive to creating professionals and imparting them with the appropriate virtues that will guarantee competence and expertise.

In conclusion, pursuing a doctorate in physical therapy is an assurance that many of the aspects discussed have previously been studied and practiced with regard to what it means to be a professional. There, however, exists a number of valuable lessons that each level presents to students in the course of developing the capabilities of the student to that of the professional. One of the biggest challenges to maintaining professionalism is continuing the learning process and the evolving medical technologies, competing treatment and research. Identifying solutions to these challenges and how best each practice can best be suited to the interests of their patients who must be taken care of in accordance with the professional values. Professionalism is applying all that has been acquired in the field and in class to treat their patients.

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