e-Professionalism: A New Frontier in Medical Education

Joseph M Kaczmarczyk, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
Alice Chuang, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC
Lorraine Dugoff, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Jodi F Abbott, Boston University, Needham, MA
Amie J Cullimore, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
John Dalrymple, University of Texas Medical School, Houston, TX
Katrina R Davis, University of Arkanasas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR
Nancy A Hueppchen, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
Nadine T Katz, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
Francis S Nuthalapaty, Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center, Greenville, SC
Archana Pradhan, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ
Abigail Wolf, Jefferson Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA
Petra M Casey, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

This article was published in Teaching and Learning in Medicine: An International Journal, Volume 25, Issue 2, 2013, Pages 165-170.

The published version is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10401334.2013.770741.

copyright © 2013, Taylor & Francis Group LLC

Abstract

Background: This article, prepared by the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics Undergraduate Medical Education Committee, discusses the evolving challenges facing medical educators posed by social media and a new form of professionalism that has been termed e-professionalism. Summary: E-professionalism is defined as the attitudes and behaviors that reflect traditional professionalism paradigms but are manifested through digital media. One of the major functions of medical education is professional identity formation; e-professionalism is an essential and increasingly important element of professional identity formation, because the consequences of violations of e-professionalism have escalated from academic sanctions to revocation of licensure. Conclusion: E-professionalism should be included in the definition, teaching, and evaluation of medical professionalism. Curricula should include a positive approach for the proper professional use of social media for learners.