title: Assessment of medical professionalism: who, what, when, where, how, and ... why?
abstract: Medical professionalism is increasingly recognized as a core competence of medical trainees and practitioners. Although the general and specific domains of professionalism are thoroughly characterized, procedures for assessing them are not well-developed. This article outlines an approach to designing and implementing an assessment program for medical professionalism that begins and ends with asking and answering a series of critical questions about the purpose and nature of the program. The process of exposing an assessment program to a series of interrogatives that comprise an integrated and iterative framework for thinking about the assessment process should lead to continued improvement in the quality and defensibility of that program.
authors.affiliation: American Board of Medical Specialties, Evanston, IL 60201, USA. rhawkins@abms.org
authors.forename: Richard E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Hawkins
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Katsufrakis
authors.forename: Matthew C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Holtman
authors.forename: Brian E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Clauser
mesh_terms: D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D010819:Physician's Role; D011361:Professional Competence / Q000592:standards*