MSHS Alumni Connections Mag Fall 2011 - MC4192 ... - Mayo Clinic

Professionalism 101
MSHS adds all-school seminar to teach workplace values
there’s a new learning requirement
for all Mayo School of Health
Sciences (MSHS) students:
professionalism.
“It’s not good enough to learn
professionalism on the job,” says
Michael Silber, MB, ChB, MSHS
associate dean for academic and
faculty affairs, who helped develop
the curriculum. “We want our
students to learn these values before
they start work.”
Since 2010, MSHS has required
students to participate in a one-time
professionalism seminar. Students
from all MSHS programs gather
and then meet in cross-disciplinary
small groups to discuss scenarios
that touch on patient confidentiality,
compassion, honesty, commitment
to excellence and other aspects of
professionalism.
Mayo Clinic’s view of
professionalism is broad, says
Dr. Silber, encompassing all
interactions with patients and
their families, staff, colleagues and
other students.
While some of the attributes
seem like commonsense, others are
more complex. Dr. Silber says that
complexity is why the seminar uses
group discussions to encourage
students to share experiences and
viewpoints. Each group discussion is
facilitated by a program director, an
administrator or a faculty member.
The format has earned good
reviews. “Most of us are well aware
of what professionalism entails,”
says Dr. Silber. Even so, more
than 70 percent of participants
noted in a survey that both smallgroup
discussions and scenarios
improved their understanding of
professionalism.
The seminar is the first MSHS
course ever required for all
students, regardless of program.
“We’re committed to teaching
professionalism and teamwork,”
he says. “It’s just as important as
teaching technical skills.”
“ I felt very comfortable
talking about ethical
issues with the small
group. I didn’t feel
as though I would
be judged.”
—sTUDEnT ParTiCiPanT
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MSHS CONNECTIONS | FAll 2011