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The University of North Dakota School of
Medicine and Health Sciences recognizes that while knowledge and
technical skills are crucial in medicine and science, the manner in
which they are used is equally important. In addition to competence
in their field, all medical professionals must strive to retain
those humanistic qualities—integrity, respect, and compassion—that
constitute the essence of professionalism. The core of
professionalism includes the attributes of commitment to excellence,
honesty, integrity, respect for others, compassion, professional and
social responsibility, and altruism. These qualities apply to all
aspects of professional life including interactions with patients,
their families, colleagues, and coworkers.
We have chosen to operationalize professional
attributes by identifying examples of behaviors that can serve as
indicators of professionalism. Although not exhaustive, the
following list provides guidance for students and all those
responsible for their education.
v
Commitment to Excellence
- strives to exceed expectations at all times;
- commits to life-long learning by taking
responsibility for one’s own learning and accurately reflecting on
the adequacy of one’s knowledge, skill development and personal
barriers to accomplishing learning and growth;
- takes responsibility for learning in group
settings by being present, prepared and engaged;
- strives for mastery learning appropriate for
one’s level of training;
- reflects with colleagues on the success of
group work.
v
Honesty and integrity
- communicates appropriately in an honest and
timely manner;
- accurately represents actions and events;
- avoids cheating, plagiarism,
misrepresentation of the truth;
- reflects on one’s personal reaction to
encounters with others and accepts responsibility for personal
actions;
- recognizes, appropriately discloses and
manages conflicts of interest;
- is forthcoming with information; does not
withhold and/or use information for power;
- admits mistakes.
v
Respect for Others
- respects confidentiality of patients;
- recognizes and respects personal and sexual
boundaries;
- avoids bias (e.g., gender, race, age, sexual
orientation) in interactions with others;
- articulates and embraces the many positive
aspects of difference among people and demonstrates awareness of
how such differences affect personal interactions;
- demonstrates a commitment to resolving
conflicts in a collegial manner;
- shows sensitivity and respect for the needs,
feelings, ideas and wishes of others in clinical and education
settings;
- demonstrates humility in interactions with
others;
- recognizes that appropriate dress and
appearance demonstrate respect for others and for the profession.
v
Compassion
- recognizes and responds to the fears,
suffering and hopes of patients and their families;
- assists colleagues in dealing with the
challenges of professional work.
v
Professional Responsibility
- is present and punctual for scheduled
activities;
- takes responsibility to notify others for
unavoidable absence or tardiness;
- copes with the challenges, conflicts, and
ambiguities inherent in professional work;
- identifies and appropriately deals with
problematic behaviors of oneself and colleagues;
- appropriately displaces clinical
responsibilities when personal needs demand it;
- adheres to established professional codes of
conduct;
- practices medicine according to accepted
standards of care;
- identifies ethical issues in professional
situations and acts in an ethical manner.
v
Social Responsibility
- understands and actively addresses the
multiple social factors that threaten the health of patients;
- actively works for appropriate social change
to improve the health of populations;
- models healthy behaviors.
v
Altruism
- places the interests of others above
self-interest; is able to give up some personal needs to meet
needs of patients.
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