Comparison of the concept of professionalism in dentistry according to dental students of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in the academic year

Dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Dentistry

Abstract

Introduction: Professionalism as the central core of the dental profession has attracted special attention all over the world. However, so far no study has been conducted in Iran to evaluate the current state of professionalism in dentistry and to try to improve it.  The purpose of this study is to investigate the understanding of the concept of professionalism among dental students of different years.

Method: Three hundred dental students from Mashhad University of Medical Sciences participated in this study. ADEA tool was modified to achieve the goals of this study. The face validity and content validity of this questionnaire were checked, and its reliability was confirmed with Cronbach's alpha index of 0.83. Then the questionnaires were completed by the students and the collected information was analyzed by SPSS software.

Results: The results showed that there is a significant difference between the professionalism of the first year students, the sixth year (P=0.002, F=27.3) and the third year (P=0.001, F=53.4). Also, there is a significant difference between the components of professionalism (competence, justice, honesty, responsibility, respect and willingness to serve) in different years (P<0.05). Fifth and sixth year students scored the highest in skills, while first, second, third and fourth year students scored the highest in respect. The lowest score among all students was related to justice. Also, the results did not show a relationship between the individual characteristics of the students, including gender and being native, with the total score of professionalism (P>0.05).   

Discussion and conclusion: according to the results obtained that the professionalism score of first year students is significantly higher than the third and sixth year students, it seems that educational strategies to strengthen professionalism require more detailed planning.

Key words: professionalism, dental student, Understanding

(1-1) Preface

In Persian, the word "profession" is equivalent to profession and business. However, some professions have characteristics that distinguish them from other professions. In Latin, this group of jobs is called "Profession[1]". Medicine, dentistry, lawyering and clergy are among the most important professions

. "Professionalism[2]" or "professionalism" is a multidimensional concept and a value that implies adherence to one's commitment to society through strong leadership, correct moral judgment, and ethical practice in medicine (1). Rather, for each of these activities, a dentist must have characteristics in line with his profession, the sum of which constitutes the professionalism of a dentist (2). In fact, professionalism is the essence of the relationship between the patient and the dentist. Failure to comply with the principles of professionalism as predicted by Weil[3] leads to the regression of dentistry towards a kind of "dealing" - as the surgeons were in charge of in the past-(3).

The available evidence indicates that professionalism is fading and today's dentists are facing cases and problems that threaten values. The increase in the culture of consumerism and recently extreme attention to aesthetics[4] along with the strong financial motivation in some dentists has complicated the conditions for maintaining professionalism.

Considering the existing threats to professionalism in dentistry, and the need to deal with these threats in order to maintain professionalism standards, universities of medical sciences will have a greater responsibility towards society to ensure that the future generation of dentists can have enough to deal with these threats.

(1-2) Generalities

(1-2-1) Concepts related to professionalism

(1-2-1-1) Definition of profession[5]

In Persian, the word "profession" is equivalent to profession and business. However, some professions have characteristics that distinguish them from other professions. In Latin, this group of jobs is called "profession". Profession is derived from the Latin word "Professio", which means a public declaration with a guarantee of the performance of an obligation. Medicine, dentistry, lawyering and clergy are among the most important professions.  In modern times, many professions have emerged. Professions serve a greater good, and publicly declare that their members will act according to certain methods, and the profession and society will deal with any member who does not act according to the declared method.

Professions have three basic characteristics, which are:

Qualification in a specialized organization based on a hierarchy of knowledge and skills

recognition of special duties and responsibilities towards society and customers

Having the right to train, accept, punish and expel members due to the inability to maintain qualifications or non-compliance with duties and responsibilities.

Therefore, one of the characteristics of professions is the rights that society has given them to select new members, train them and, if they qualify, bring them into accept a profession Compiling curricula, taking exams from students, giving encyclopedias to graduates have been among the natural rights of professions (2, 4). The characteristics that have been mentioned as indicators of professionalism for years are: selflessness, respect, honesty, trustworthiness, conscientiousness, honor, excellence and accountability. According to Morrison [7], professionalism is a multidimensional concept and a value word that includes social, institutional, historical and contextual expectations (5).

The American Dental Education Association[8] (2009) has listed the areas that include the general characteristics of professionalism in dentistry, which are: skill, justice, honesty, responsibility, respect and passion for service (6).

According to the definition of the European Federation of Internal Medicine (2002), professionalism can be defined at all times as a means by which doctors contract They do their profession with the society. In fact, the professional role of doctors implies their adherence to their commitment to society through strong leadership, correct moral judgment, and ethical practice in medicine 7).

In 2002, during a joint project by a group of doctors affiliated with various international associations such as the American Board of Internal Medicine, the American College of Physicians, and the European Federation of Internal Medicine, a medical charter on professionalism was designed and published. In this regard, the aforementioned doctors introduced three fundamental principles that characterize professionalism, which are: prioritizing the patient and his well-being, giving the patient the right to make decisions, and social justice. Also, they presented a series of 10 responsibilities that today's doctors should be committed to, which include: having professional competence and being able to maintain it, being honest with patients, being confidential about the patient, avoiding inappropriate relationships with patients, expanding their scientific knowledge, fully fulfilling their duties towards their profession, improving the quality of patient care, improving access to medical care, promoting equitable distribution of resources, and through proper conflict management. benefits, to gain the confidence of patients (8).  

(1-2-2) Different views on professionalism

Professionalism includes having the "correct" or "desirable" feature, which became a necessity with the emergence of professions and has remained as an educational priority until today. So far, the health profession has invested considerable resources and energy in discussing, defining, teaching, evaluating, and modeling professionalism (9-11).