Professionalism teaching is often delivered to medical undergraduates through stereotypical, rule-based, ethical scenarios. It was with great interest, however, that we read the recent meta-analysis by Birden et al. (2014) which considered the definition of professionalism in the context of medical education. One key point argued is that professionalism is better taught through role models, both good and bad, through a narrative dialogue which considers the behaviours of doctors within the context of modern medical practice. This theory is the guiding principle which underlies the recent introduction of a new professionalism tutorial at Cardiff University School of Medicine, UK, replacing previous didactic teaching. The session, based on the idea of medical "heroes and anti-heroes", encouraged students to design and deliver short presentations on recent obituaries or fitness to practice cases. In turn, these presentations generated discussions amongst other students in the tutorial.
展开▼
