Critical incidents as a technique for teaching professionalism.
BACKGROUND
The issue of professional behavior in medicine has been extensively discussed in the medical literature and clarity regarding what constitutes professional behavior, and strategies for assessing professionalism have begun to emerge.


OBJECTIVE
To address the information gap on effective strategies for teaching professionalism.


METHODS
The critical incident technique (CIT) established by Flanagan has proven to be a useful way to structure teaching and/or evaluation of professionalism.


RESULTS
By analyzing 'real-life' occurrences of unprofessional behavior with learners, the CIT yields common terminology and definitions of professionalism that can be explored within a structured framework for discussion.


CONCLUSIONS
CIT is a versatile strategy as it can be utilized with varied audiences (e.g., students, faculty), in a wide array of settings (e.g., workshops, grand rounds). Examples of CIT use associated with teaching professionalism are reviewed and key features associated with its success are identified.
Rademacher
Ruth
R
Division of Neonatology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53201-1997, USA. rrademac@mcw.edu
Simpson
Deborah
D
Marcdante
Karen
K
D002983:Clinical Competence; D003479:Curriculum; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D010819:Physician's Role; D012933:Social Identification; D013337:Students, Medical; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013663:Teaching