Organizational Professionalism and Self-Assessment: Realization of a Necessity

Jannat Mashayekhi; Saeed  Biroudian; Saeedeh Saeedi Tehrani

doi:10.18502/jimc.v6i3.12840

Jannat Mashayekhi Department of Medical Ethics, Medicine, Quran and Hadith Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Saeed Biroudian Department of Medical Ethics, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Saeedeh Saeedi Tehrani Department of Medical Ethics, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/jimc.v6i3.12840

Keywords: Medical professionalism, Self-assessment, Self-regulation, Systemic professionalism

Abstract

Background: The recent rapid developments in medical science and technologies have brought about powerful medical tools; however, the professional commitment has failed to keep pace. Professionals’ reluctance or failure to practice professional behavior has significantly challenged society’s trust in professionalism. Consistent assessment of the profession, at least through measuring the capabilities and encouraging the elimination of shortcomings, can serve as an effective tool to preserve or restore this trust. Numerous assessment methods are recommended to measure the level of professionalism among the members of the medical society. Sometimes, professionalism is defined using shared values and sometimes various lists of professional behaviors are suggested. However, no comprehensive definition has been proposed for professionalism. Professionalism is normally individual. This study sought to provide a comprehensive definition of professionalism and accordingly explains organizational professionalism. In addition, it tried to define profession assessment through a non-systematic review of online resources using Web of Science, Science Direct, and PubMed databases. Professionalism is a belief system or a driving force to create these lists to improve healthcare, according to which professionalism requires collective action. The philosophy underlying the common standards of physicians regarding the patient-physician relationship confirms the importance of teamwork and organizational professionalism. Following professional autonomy, assessment of the members of a profession is carried out via self-assessment. Meanwhile, the continuation of the self-assessment system entails patients’ trust in their physician and society’s trust in the profession of medicine. Furthermore, the medical profession should operate with more transparency, thus the society can feel that the self-assessment is really effective. Thus, constant and dynamic self-assessment is started with the physicians and expanded through the clinical team. The profession should administer systematic professionalism in all dimensions of the health system. In addition, it should guard its self-assessment privileges obtained from society and seek the assistance of ordinary individuals in society, patients, and experts in fulfilling this task.