A Multipronged Effort to Incorporate Professionalism Into Campuswide Programming Through a Center for Professionalism.

Abstract

Background Professionalism, a core competency for graduate medical education accreditation, has a clear educational mandate. However, the pathway to successful incorporation of professionalism within organizational culture has not been established. Integration of professionalism within the learning environment requires intentional design and formal education. Objective To describe the integration of professionalism in the learning environment through formal education and programming and report feasibility and acceptability data. Methods The Center for Professionalism (Center) was developed in 2013 to align with the learning and clinical environments of our academic medical center. Primary drivers of a culture of professionalism were identified through input from key partners, responses to institutional and national surveys, peer-reviewed literature, and institutional core values. Educational content was incorporated through a variety of interactive andragogical approaches, including large-group sessions, departmental trainings, retreats, and workshops. Education is delivered to everyone in the institution, including trainees, students, staff, and faculty, and evaluated for satisfaction, feasibility, and acceptability. Results Approximately 2000 individuals have provided feedback to the Center. Aggregated feedback from Center activities indicates most participants (70%-98%) would recommend participation in Center programming to colleagues. Participants' perception of their ability to address professionalism-related topics, such as comfort in addressing workplace incivility, increased. Fifty-six percent (n=64) of participants felt uncomfortable/very uncomfortable addressing workplace incivility before the workshop; 74% (n=84) felt comfortable/very comfortable addressing workplace incivility after. Conclusions Implementation and integration of a center for professionalism across a health science center is feasible, acceptable, and helps to fulfill accreditation mandates through education and support.