Introduction of a new Assessment of Professionalism in Medical Students

AIM AND OBJECTIVES The curriculum of a medical school should include teaching and assessment of Professionalism. This project aimed to introduce a new tool to assess Professionalism as part of the General Practice attachment in an Irish medical school, which previously had no formal assessment of Professionalism, and to evaluate it in this context. The primary objective was to improve the students’ learning of Professionalism, as the assessment is formative in nature. Other objectives include increased accountability for the medical school, and better quality assurance for patients regarding the levels of Professionalism in graduating doctors. METHOD The assessment tool selected was a modified version of the Professionalism Mini-Evaluation Excercise (P-MEX), which has been shown to be a valid and reliable tool 1. The tool was introduced as a pilot study, utilising the HSE Model for Change. RESULTS Quantitative data was collected, using pre-test and post-test questionnaires, based on the students’ self-rated scores of Professionalism. These indicated that the objective of improved learning had occurred. However, the evaluation method did not isolate the new assessment from the learning of Professionalism that occurred during the GP rotation as a whole. Further evaluation using qualitative methods is pending, and will evaluate the new assessment in isolation.