College of Medicine Florida State University
Professionalism at FSU COM
Christopher A. Leadem, Ph.D. & Robert Campbell, M.D.
Division of Student Affairs & Admissions
The Medical Profession
An occupation whose core element is work based upon the
mastery of a complex body of knowledge and skills. It is a
vocation in which knowledge of some department of science or
learning or the practice of an art founded upon it is used in the
service of others. Its members are governed by codes of ethics
and profess a commitment to competence, integrity and morality,
altruism, and the promotion of the public good within their
domain. These commitments form the basis of a social contract
between a profession and society, which in return grants the
profession a monopoly over the use of its knowledge base, the
right to considerable autonomy in practice and the privilege of
self-regulation. Professions and their members are accountable to
those served and to society.*
*, From “Profession”: A Working Definition for Medical Educators, Cruess et al., Teaching & Learning in Medicine 16:74, 2013
Professionalism
The key elements of professionalism in medicine*
• Altruism- serve the interests of the patient above your own selfinterest
• Accountability- to patients, society and the profession
• Excellence- conscientious effort to exceed ordinary expectations
and to make a commitment to life-long learning
• Duty- free acceptance of a commitment to service
• Honor & Integrity- consistent regard for the highest standards of
behavior and the refusal to violate personal and professional codes
• Respect for Others- (patients, families, professional colleagues)
is the essence of humanism
*, From the American Board of Internal Medicine, Project Professionalism, 1994
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Societal Contract
“With great power comes great
responsibility.”
You are in a guild now.
It is no longer about you…it’s about your
patients
THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE of MEDICINE
STUDENT HANDBOOK
2012-2013
The Florida State University College of Medicine Student Handbook is published annually by the College of
Medicine Division of Student Affairs. Information contained in this handbook is subject to change.
Honor Code
The Florida State University College
of Medicine expects students to be
honest in all of their class work. In
addition to academic honesty, we
expect a high standard of personal
and professional conduct in the
physicians we aspire to train.
AAMC’s COMPACT BETWEEN TEACHERS
AND LEARNERS IN MEDICINE*
*, Adopted by FSU’s College of Medicine faculty in 2002
Commitments of Faculty
We pledge our utmost effort to ensure that all components of
the educational program for students are of high quality.
• As mentors for our student colleagues, we maintain high
professional standards in all of our interactions with patients,
colleagues, and staff.
• We respect all students as individuals, without regard to
gender, race, national origin, religion, or sexual orientation; we
will not tolerate anyone who manifests disrespect or who
expresses biased attitudes towards any student or resident.
• We pledge that students will have sufficient time to fulfill
personal and family obligations, to enjoy recreational
activities, and to obtain adequate rest; we monitor and, when
necessary, reduce the time required to fulfill educational
objectives, including time required for “call” on clinical
rotations, to ensure students’ well being.
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Commitments of Faculty (con’t)
• In nurturing both the intellectual and the personal development
of students, we celebrate expressions of professional attitudes
and behaviors, as well as achievement of academic excellence.
• We do not tolerate any abuse or exploitation of students.
• We encourage any student who experiences mistreatment or
who witnesses unprofessional behavior to report the facts
immediately to appropriate faculty or staff; we treat all such
reports as confidential and do not tolerate reprisals or
retaliations of any kind.
Examples of inappropriate behaviors are:
• Physical punishment or physical threats
• Sexual harassment
• Discrimination based on race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national or
ethnic origin, age, disability
• Repeated episodes of psychological punishment of a student by a particular
superior (e.g. public humiliation, threats and intimidation, removal of
privileges)
• Grading used to punish a student rather than to evaluate objective
performance
• Assigning tasks for punishment rather than to evaluate objective performance
• Requiring the performance of personal services
• Taking credit for another individual’s work
• Intentional neglect or intentional lack of communication.
From: 2011/12 FSU COM Student Handbook
FSU Sexual Harassment Policy
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(3) DEFINITION. Sexual harassment is defined as
unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and
other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature directed at
an employee or student by another when:
(a) submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or
condition of employment, academic status, receipt of University services,
participation in University activities and programs, or affects the measure of a
student's academic performance; or,
(b) submission to or rejection of such conduct is used as the basis for a decision
affecting employment, academic status, receipt of services, participation in
University activities and programs, or the measure of a student's academic
performance; or,
(c) such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with
employment opportunities, work or academic performance or creating an
intimidating, hostile, or offensive work or educational environment.
From: http://www.auditservices.fsu.edu/sh/policy.html
Commitments of Students
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We pledge our utmost effort to acquire the knowledge, skills,
attitudes, and behaviors required to fulfill all educational
objectives established by the faculty.
We cherish the professional virtues of honesty, compassion,
integrity, fidelity, and dependability.
We pledge to respect all faculty members and all students as
individuals, without regard to gender, race, national origin,
religion, or sexual orientation.
As physicians in training, we embrace the highest standards of
the medical profession and pledge to conduct ourselves
accordingly in all of our interactions with patients, colleagues,
and staff.
In fulfilling our own obligations as professionals, we pledge to
assist our fellow students in meeting their professional
obligations, as well.
Grading Policy
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Years 1 & 2
• Pass-Fail
• Must pass all required courses
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Years 3 & 4
• Honors-Pass-Fail
• Must pass all required courses
• Narrative evaluations
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Medical Student Performance Evaluation
Evaluation & Promotion Committee
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Charged with reviewing all students’ academic
progress
Composed of faculty
Probation
• A grade other than honors or pass in any course or
clerkship.
• Displaying behavior that is unacceptable or
unprofessional, and fails to meet the level of
professionalism reasonably expected of medical
students and future physicians, provided that some
behaviors may be so egregious as to justify immediate
dismissal of a medical student.
Evaluation & Promotion Committee
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The SEPC may, at its discretion, require an
adjustment of academic load, repetition, dismissal
or other change of status for any of the following
academic situations:
• Failure to pass all courses/clerkships while on
probation.
• Two or more failures in required courses/clerkships.
• Displaying behavior that is unacceptable or
unprofessional, and fails to meet the level of
professionalism reasonably expected of medical
students and future physicians.
Attendance Policy
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You are responsible for attending:
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Small groups
Team-based learning sessions
Labs
Clinical experiences
Exams
Lecture attendance is encouraged but not
mandatory unless:
• Lectures with outside speakers or patients
• Course events may require attendance
AAMC Matriculating Student
Questionnaire
You will soon be receiving emails from the
AAMC to complete the Matriculating Student
Questionnaire.
Please fill it out (~20 minutes to complete)
Dr. Robert Campbell
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Facebook
Myspace
Yammer
YouTube
LinkedIn
Blogger
Twitter
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Facebook: “I peed.” (social networking)
Youtube: “Look at this pee!” (video)
Twitter: “I need to pee.” (microblog)
Linkedin: “I am good at peeing.” (business
networking)
Foursquare: “This is where I peed.” (location)
Fluid and constantly changing based on new
technology, websites, etc.
Glossary of Social Media Terms:
http://www.socialbrite.org/sharing-center/glossary/
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everything that’s already in the world when
you’re born is just normal;
anything that gets invented between then and
before you turn thirty is incredibly exciting and
creative and with any luck you can make a career
out of it;
anything that gets invented after you’re thirty is
against the natural order of things and the
beginning of the end of civilization as we know it
until it’s been around for about ten years when it
gradually turns out to be alright really.
Douglas Adams. How to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Internet. 1999.
http://www.douglasadams.com/dna/19990901-00-a.html
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Make connections between people
Improved communication for events
Opportunity to create a positive self-image
Social outlet
Collaborative learning
Share educational experiences
Educate patients
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Social Media blurs the line between your
professional and personal life
Social contract
Sacred public trust
Confidentiality
HIPPA
Poor social image
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Birthdates
Political Views
Location
Sexual Preference
Information
 Cell Phone Numbers
 Pictures
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Findings
•78/130 Medical Schools
Responded
•60% (47/78) incidents of
student unprofessional
posting
•Violations of patient
confidentiality 13%
•Profanity 52%
•Discriminatory language
48%
•Depiction of intoxication
39%
•Sexually suggestive
material 38%
•Of the 45 schools that
reported:
•30 (67%) gave warnings
•3 reported student
dismissal (7%)
Online posting of Unprofessional Content by Medical
Students JAMA 2009;302:1309-1315
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Looked up the names of 800 medical students and
residents on facebook and found 362 profiles (44.5%)
 Only 37% made private
 6% revealed home address
 Over 50 percent included sexual orientation and political
positions
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Randomly selected 10 students
 7 had picture of drinking alcohol and inferences to
excessive drinking
 3 had joined groups that could be interpreted as sexist
(Physicians looking for trophy wives in training) or racially
charged (I should have gone to a blacker college)
The Intersection of Online Social Networking with Medical Professionalism – Journal of General Internal Medicine Volume 23, Number 7, July 2008
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338 doctors in University of Otago
in 2006
65% had facebook
27% had no privacy
Half the photos showed alcohol
with 10% showing evidence of
intoxication
Belonged to groups such as:

Perverts united’
 ‘F*** medicine - I want to be a
ninja’, which was ‘dedicated to
medics who are sick and tired of the
prospect of a hideously long
training time, lack of respect, poor
hours and rectal exams on elderly
gentlemen’.
MEDICAL EDUCATION 2010; 44: 805–813
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Robert Lindeman, M.D.
Malpractice suit
involving a 12-year-old
patient
Anonymous blog
 Ridiculed the plaintiff's case
 Ridiculed the plaintiff's lawyer
 Revealed the defense strategy
 Accused members of the jury for dozing
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Asked of he was Dr. Flea – settled the next day
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Patients on social media
Professors on social media
Selection of applicants to college and to
residency
The social contract with society
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Use social media
Understand the implications and your duty
Think before you post
Once you post content, you relinquish control
of its proliferation forever
Even the strictest privacy settings do not
ensure total security
Never reveal confidential or exclusive
information on the Internet
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Respect copyrighted material and post only
with consent of the owner
References to staff, faculty, students, or any
person or organization associated with FSU
(including competitors) must be truthful and
respectful
Refrain from posting pictures or posts that
you may regret