What do dietetics students think professionalism entails
Date
2012-07
Authors
Marais, D.
Marais, M. L.
Visser, J.
Boome, C.
Taylor, D. C. M.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Health and Medical Publishing Group (HMPG)
Abstract
Background. Members of a profession are committed to codes of ethics
and professionalism. The aim was to determine which professionalism
attributes dietetics students deem important and relevant to their
profession.
Methods. A total of 109 dietetics students from two universities
in the Western Cape, South Africa, completed a demographic
questionnaire and were required to sort a pack of cards containing
90 attributes of professionalism into 11 piles, ranging from ‘least
agree’ to ‘most agree’. An element of forced choice was introduced
by restricting the number of cards in each of the 11 piles (Q-sort).
PQMETHOD 2.11 was used for data analysis, ranking items by
their mode score and giving an indication of which items were most
consistently favoured. Results. Professionalism attributes considered most important included
Protect confidential information, Trust, Respect patients’ right of shared
decision making, Honesty, Good clinical judgment, Communication skills
and Carry out professional responsibilities. Interpersonal professionalism
attributes were considered more important than intrapersonal or public
professionalism.
Conclusion. This study suggests that professionalism attributes are not
attained continuously for dietetic students. The findings should form an
integral part of dietetic and other health sciences curriculum planning to
ensure that the assessment of these attributes is relevant and consistent
with development over the years.
Description
The original publication is available at http://www.ajhpe.org.za/
Keywords
Professionalism, Dietetics students
Citation
Marais, D. et al. 2012. What do dietetics students think professionalism entails. African Journal of Health Professions Education, 4(1):28-33, doi:10.7196/AJHPE.165.