title: "Once when i was on call...," theory versus reality in training for professionalism.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify the degree to which interns' reported experiences with professional and unprofessional behavior converge and/or diverge with ideal professional behavior proposed by the physician community.
  
  
  METHODS
  Interns at Wayne State University's residency programs in internal medicine, family medicine, and transitional medicine responded to essay questions about their experience with professional and unprofessional behavior as part of a curriculum on professionalism. Responses were coded for whether they reflected each of the principles and responsibilities outlined in a major publication on physician professionalism. Content analysis included the frequencies with which the interns' essays reflected each principle or responsibility. Additionally, a thematic analysis revealed themes of professional behavior that emerged from the essays.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Interns' experiences with professional and unprofessional behavior most frequently converged with ideal behavior proposed by the physician community in categories involving interpersonal interactions with patients. Interns infrequently reported experiences involving behavior related to systems or sociopolitical issues.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Interns' essays reflect their concern with interpersonal interactions with patients, but they are either less exposed to or less interested in describing behavior regarding systems or sociopolitical issues. This may be due to their stage of training or to the emphasis placed on interpersonal rather than systems or sociopolitical issues during training. The authors recommend future proposals of ideal professional behavior be revised periodically to reflect current experiences of practicing physicians, trainees, other health care providers and patients. Greater educational emphasis should be placed on the systems and sociopolitical environment in which trainees practice.
authors.affiliation: Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University, 4100 John R., Detroit, MI 48201, USA. egglys@karmanos.org
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eggly
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brennan
authors.forename: Wilhelmine
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wiese-Rometsch
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D005194:Family Practice / Q000941:ethics; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007388:Internal Medicine / Q000941:ethics; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000941:ethics*; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008297:Male; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011361:Professional Competence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States