FACULTY AND STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION ABOUT APTITUDE OF PROFESSIONALISM IN ADMISSION PROCESS OF MEDICAL COLLEGE

Authors

  • Gulfreen Waheed
  • Mohammad Amin Mengal
  • Syed Shaukat Ali Shah
  • Abdul Waheed Sheikh

Abstract

Background: Historically, knowledge and skill were of prime focus in medical education, where asprofessionalism was perceived as an attribute to be acquired during their MBBS studies. In the pastdecade, trends have changed and graduating medical students are expected to competently deliver carein a professional manner. The selection of applicants with professional attributes at the time ofadmission is a stepping stone for the formation of a good doctor. This study was conducted todetermine the students’ and faculty’s perception about aptitude of professionalism in the admissionprocess in our setting. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study an interactive/scenario-basedconversation regarding institutional values, contribute to personal reflection of what will be expected ofthem in the medical profession and inclusion of such discussion in admission process was made toassess the aptitude of Professionalism of 100 students and 100 faculty members of Avicenna MedicalCollege Lahore. After this conversation the questionnaires were filled by both the groups to record theirresponses on the aptitude of professionalism. The data was analysed to determine the response patternsof both the groups by using Pearson Chi-Square analysis through crosstabs. All analyses were carriedout using SPSS-18. Results: The response of students to professionalism discussion was morepositively influenced (91%) compared to the faculty (59%), (p<0.05). The students agreed that suchscenarios do indicate what our institution values in its students and contribute to personal reflection ofwhat will be expected of them in the medical profession. However, faculty agreed more (85%) than thestudents (67%) for inclusion of such scenarios in admission process, p<0.05. Conclusions: MedicalColleges should include some form of assessment regarding aptitude of professionalism in theadmission process to identify future medical students’ capacity for professional behaviour. Futurestudies are needed to determine innovative interview strategies for this purpose.Keywords: Students’ perception, professionalism, admission process, medical colleges

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Published

2011-06-01

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