Taiwanese and Sri Lankan Students' Dimensions and Discourses of Professionalism

Overview

Journal Med Educ

Specialty Medical Education

Date 2017 Apr 27

PMID 28444783

Citations 5

Authors

Lynn V Monrouxe

Madawa Chandratilake

Katherine Gosselin

Charlotte E Rees

Ming-Jung Ho

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Context: The definition of medical professionalism poses a challenge to global medical educators. This is especially pronounced in settings where professionalism frameworks developed in the west are transferred into different cultures. Building upon our previous study across Western contexts, we examine Taiwanese and Sri Lankan medical students' conceptualisations of professionalism in terms of what professionalism comprises (i.e. dimensions) and how it is linguistically framed (i.e. discourses).

Methods: A qualitative group interview study was undertaken comprising 26 group interviews with 135 participants from one Taiwanese (n = 64; Years 4-7) and one Sri Lankan medical school (n = 71; Years 2-5). Through thematic framework analysis we examined the data for explicit dimensions of professionalism. Through discourse analysis we identified how participants constructed professionalism linguistically (discourses).

Results: Thirteen common dimensions across Taiwanese and Sri Lankan talk were identified, with the dimensions (contextual, integration and internalised self) being identified only in Sri Lankan data. Professionalism as knowledge and patient-centredness were dominant dimensions in Taiwan; in Sri Lanka, attributes of the individual and rules were dominant dimensions. Participants in both countries used four types of discourses previously identified in the literature. Individual and interpersonal discourses were dominant in Taiwanese talk; the collective discourse was dominant in Sri Lankan talk. Findings were compared with our previous data collected in Western contexts.

Conclusions: Despite some overlap in the dimensions and discourses identified across both this and Western studies, Taiwanese and Sri Lankan students' dominant dimensions and discourses were distinct. We therefore encourage global medical educators to look beyond a one-size-fits-all approach to professionalism, and to recognise the significance of context and culture in conceptualisations of professionalism.

Citing Articles

Medical Students' and Trainees' Country-By-Gender Profiles: Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions Across Sixteen Diverse Countries.

Monrouxe L, Chandratilake M, Chen J, Chhabra S, Zheng L, Costa P Front Med (Lausanne). 2022; 8:746288.

PMID: 35211478 PMC: 8862177. DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2021.746288.

Health Science Students' Perspective on Quality-of-Care-Relating Medical Professionalism.

Uyen Binh P, An P, Nguyen N, Nguyen D, Huynh G, Gomi H J Multidiscip Healthc. 2021; 14:2229-2238.

PMID: 34434049 PMC: 8380627. DOI: 10.2147/JMDH.S321094.

Patient perceptions of students in a longitudinal integrated clerkship in Taiwan: a qualitative study.

Chang Y, Hirsh D, Fang W, Li H, Tzeng W, Kao S BMC Med Educ. 2021; 21(1):153.

PMID: 33691688 PMC: 7944602. DOI: 10.1186/s12909-021-02553-7.

Preliminary study of the relationship between career choice motivation and understanding of professionalism in newly enrolled medical students in China: a cross-sectional study.

Cui X, Ding N, Jiang N, Li H, Wen D BMJ Open. 2021; 11(2):e041860.

PMID: 33619186 PMC: 7903090. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-041860.

Medical students' attitudes toward interactions with the pharmaceutical industry: a national survey in Japan.

Saito S, Maeno T, Miyata Y, Maeno T BMC Med Educ. 2018; 18(1):286.

PMID: 30509273 PMC: 6278117. DOI: 10.1186/s12909-018-1394-9.

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