Presenter:
Jennifer Kwon
Authors:
Jennifer Kwon, HsingChi Von Bergmann
Poster Abstract:
Background: Professionalism is an essential element in health professions education. Despite being widely acknowledged for its significance, there exists a noticeable gap in research focusing on the obstacles and difficulties that oral health professionals confront in their everyday clinical settings, and how these challenges influence the development of their professional identity. Exploring the experiences of practicing dentists through interviews provides valuable insights into the hurdles they face when navigating ethical
dilemmas.
Objectives: This research aimed to investigate how dentists view professionalism, recognize potential challenges in the workplace that impact their professionalism and identity as professionals, assess the factors influencing their professional identity formation, and collect their suggestions for enhancing dental professionalism. Method: A qualitative semi-structured interview was conducted on ten dentists currently working in the Metro Vancouver area in Canada. Interviews were conducted using Zoom, the virtual meeting software. NVivo (Version 14) by QSR International was used to perform template analysis to analyze transcripts.
Results: The participated dentists identified patient-focused care, effective communication, adherence to ethical principles, and maintaining professional boundaries as fundamental elements of professionalism. Although work experience enhanced their professional identity, it did not always result in better ethical conduct. The participants noted a lack of ethics training and interprofessional collaboration, underscoring a discrepancy between their understanding of professionalism and the education they received. They recommended enhancements in professionalism training, more stringent oversight by institutions, and fostering better workplace relationships.
Conclusion: In light of the interview results, there may be a possible deficiency in self-reflection among participating dentists, prompting further investigation into ways to bridge the gap between professional identity and professionalism. The findings also suggest that supporting continuous professional identity formation after graduation may be critical for improving practicing dentists’ professionalism. Suggestions from the interviewed dentists regarding professionalism education may help inform broader health science education.
