Boundary Work: Using a Remediation-Grounded Case-Based Approach to Reimagine Professionalism Definitions and Assessment Criteria

Description: We are 30 years into medicine’s modern-day professionalism movement with calls for better definitions and more objective assessment criteria continuing to reverberate. Meanwhile, the definitions and their operational expressions that we do have continue to generate pushback, particularly among trainees who see their particular organizational/programmatic expressions more as a hunt for "bad behavior" rather than as expressions of core aspirational values. In this workshop, we will deploy a re-engineering approach by beginning our group work with professionalism remediation case studies in order to construct three types of cases:

(1) Those clearly unprofessional in their rendering
(2) Those clearly a-professional in that they represent issues that fall outside the scope of professionalism issues
(3) Those "gray area" cases that contain either controversial or amorphous elements that resist “clear” classification

In turn, we will use these three types to reimagine how our findings might infiltrate both professionalism definitions and assessment activities. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own cases--including associated “wrinkles”--for group consideration.

Citations and Literature References (if none, write n/a): Brennan, N, T Price, J Archer, and J Brett. “Remediating Professionalism Lapses in Medical Students and Doctors: A Systematic Review.” Med Educ 54, no. 3 (2020): 196–204.

Williams, BW and MV Williams. “Understanding and Remediating Lapses in Professionalism: Lessons from the Island of Last Resort.” Ann Thorac Surg 109, no. 2 (2020): 317–24.

Pieter C. Barnhoorn, Mirjam Houtlosser, Marleen W. Ottenhoff-de Jonge, Geurt T. J. M. Essers, Mattijs E. Numans & Anneke W. M. Kramer (2019) A practical framework for remediating unprofessional behavior and for developing professionalism competencies and a professional identity, Medical Teacher, 41:3, 303-308, DOI: 10.1080/0142159X.2018.1464133