Considerations about teaching and assessing professionalism for faculty members

Abstract

© 2020 Journal of Education and Health Promotion | Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow 1 Sir, Emphasizing conventional ways for teaching like the lecture that highlighted the cognitive domain of competencies and different definitions of professionalism are the most challenges for teaching and assessing professionalism. In addition, students may learn some behaviors in “implicit curriculum” that affects anything they realized regarding professionalism.[1] The principles of professionalism that are related to the cognitive domain can be trained in the classroom as a formal curriculum and also can be taught in “workshops and small group” practices as an informal curriculum. Moreover, “witnessed” is an important part of learned professionalism and derived from the “hidden curriculum”. However, “formal, informal, and hidden curriculum” usually oppose together, and learners may conclude that professionalism “doesn’t practice what it preaches” and makes them feel unsure, worry, and doubt.[1,2] Therefore, outcomes of learning professionalism through the “hidden curriculum” are not predictable; hence, the necessity of teaching professionalism is stressed. Furthermore, to enhance learning and motivate learners, what has been taught to learners should be assessed.[