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Published in: Perspectives on Medical Education 6/2014

Open Access 01-12-2014 | Show & Tell

Facilitating the initiation of the physician’s professional identity: Cornell’s urban semester program

Authors: Peter A. Goldstein, Carol Storey-Johnson, Sam Beck

Published in: Perspectives on Medical Education | Issue 6/2014

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Abstract

Calling for major reform in medical education, the Carnegie Institute report ‘Educating Physicians’ espoused the importance of assisting student trainees in forming their professional identities. Here, we consider the question: At what educational stage should future physicians begin this process? The literature suggests that the process begins when students matriculate in medical school; we posit, however, that premedical students can begin their proto-professional development as college undergraduates. We describe here the pedagogy of Cornell University’s urban semester program (USP), which enables college students to participate in shadowing experiences as part of an integrated structured study programme. USP students report improved communicative competency, changes in their perceptions and attitudes toward medical practice, and powerful influences on their personal and professional development upon completion of the programme. We suggest the solution to the question of ‘When and under what conditions should shadowing take place?’ is to utilize a structure that combines the exposure of college students to the professional environment with a didactic and self-reflective curriculum, thereby supporting students in their early professional development. We conclude that educational efforts aimed at developing professional identity and behaviour can begin before students enter medical school.
Footnotes
1
ABIMF: American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation, ACP–ASIM: American College of Physicians–American Society of Internal Medicine, EFIM: European Federation of Internal Medicine.
 
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Metadata
Title
Facilitating the initiation of the physician’s professional identity: Cornell’s urban semester program
Authors
Peter A. Goldstein
Carol Storey-Johnson
Sam Beck
Publication date
01-12-2014
Publisher
Bohn Stafleu van Loghum
Published in
Perspectives on Medical Education / Issue 6/2014
Print ISSN: 2212-2761
Electronic ISSN: 2212-277X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40037-014-0151-y

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