Background: Professionalism is contextual and varies with culture. It has multiple dimensions including individual, inter-personal, organizational, and societal components. The aim of this study was to add some new perspectives to understand professionalism. Professionalism was explored in the context of two different cultures, Scotland and Pakistan, to identify similarities and differences in perceptions of clinical faculty members and medical students. Methodology: The method used was qualitative multiple case studies in a constructivist approach. Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) was used as a theoretical framework to enhance understanding of the study. Faculty members from three Scottish and three Pakistani medical schools were interviewed. Focus group discussions were arranged with groups of 7-10 medical students from each of the six medical schools. The data was analysed using a thematic analysis to identify reasons for cultural similarities and differences across two countries. Results: The results were divided into nine themes, that is, the nature of the healthcare system, models and process of professionalism, attributes of professional doctors, approach of doctors towards their patients and other healthcare professionals, working in teams, self-regulation, the role of doctors in society and within families, dealing with ethical dilemmas and legally difficult situations, and resolving conflict situations in the work place. Discussion The variance of professionalism found in this study was mainly due to the health professionals working in two different healthcare systems. The cultural differences between the two countries were reflected in these systems and the activity of professionalism included conflicts and dilemmas, self-regulation, and professional attributes. Medical professionals were found to adopt different institutional models of professionalism when they perform their daily activities. Conclusions: This study showed that doctors and medical students from both countries have mostly similar perceptions about professionalism with some dissimilarities resulting from differences in the culture, history, institutional ethos, daily activities and the role of religion. There is a lack of training in professionalism and a need to include it in the formal curriculum in Pakistan. A training programme could be organized and incorporated into the curriculum using the themes, models and process of professionalism with attention to culturally sensitive situations to prepare medical students for their early professional years in both countries. A focus needs to be on the preparation of communication skills in different contexts and the improvement of the internal environment, which is within the control of every individual. A faculty development programme, with similar objectives, needs to be introduced for medical staff to enhance their understanding of professionalism.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:739203 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Mahboob, Usman |
| Publisher | University of Glasgow |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://theses.gla.ac.uk/8913/ |
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