360-Degree Professionalism Assessment Instrument

Abstract

Abstract This instrument is designed to provide an assessment of medical students' and residents' strengths and weaknesses in the following areas of professionalism: (1) honor and integrity; (2) responsibility and accountability; (3) leadership; (4) altruism; (5) caring, compassion, and communication; (6) excellence and scholarship; and (7) respect. A 6-point Likert-type scale (0 = unacceptable, 1–2 = needs improvement, 3–4 = meets expectations, 5 = superior) is used to assess the learners behavior in each of the seven professionalism domains. A “cannot assess” response category is also included. In spring 2005 we conducted a pilot study during which a total of 850 assessment forms were collected on 149 freshman and 40 senior medical students at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. Of the forms collected, 24 freshman students received a 1 or a 2 in at least one professionalism domain, and only one senior student received a score of 2 or less in any of the domains. Seven students identified themselves as needing improvement in one or more categories. The remaining 18 students were identified by peers, faculty, or a combination thereof, as needing improvement. Other data analyses are currently ongoing. This instrument was originally designed as a Scantron form, but is currently administered with an online survey tool, and may need to be modified to best serve the purposes future implementation.

Keywords

• Educational Measurement
• Scholarship
• Multi-Rater
• Honor
• Integrity
• Responsibility