e-Professionalism: a new frontier in medical education.

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.

To the point: medical education reviews-ongoing call for faculty development.

This article in the To the Point series will focus on best practices regarding faculty development in medical education in the field of obstetrics and gynecology. Faculty development is an essential component in achieving teacher and learner satisfaction as well as improving learner outcomes. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education requires medical school faculty to have the capability and longitudinal commitment to be effective teachers. Although many programs have been created to address faculty development, there remains a paucity of literature documenting the impact of these programs on learner outcomes. We reviewed the qualities of an excellent medical educator, expectations regarding medical school teaching faculty, elements of comprehensive faculty development programs, and outcome measures for evaluating the effectiveness of these programs.

Personality type and clinical evaluations in an obstetrics/gynecology medical student clerkship.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether the Myers-Briggs type inventory extraversion is associated with clinical evaluation ratings that students earn during their (obstetrics/gynecology) junior medical student clerkship. STUDY DESIGN: The Myers-Briggs type inventory was administered to medical students during their obstetrics/gynec clerkship. Bivariate correlations between clinical evaluations, National Board of Medical Examiners subject scores, and data from the Myers-Briggs type inventory extraversion scale were analyzed. RESULTS: Pearson product-moment correlation between clinical and National Board of Medical Examiners subject scores was not significant (r = .25; P = .05). The National Board of Medical Examiners did not show significant correlations with the Myers-Briggs type inventory extraversion data. The clinical evaluations showed a significant correlation (r = .35; P = .005) with Myers-Briggs type inventory extraversion. CONCLUSION: Results show that Myers-Briggs type inventory extraversion is correlated positively with clinical evaluations. The National Board of Medical Examiners subject examination and clinical evaluations were not correlated significantly. Findings question whether clinical evaluation data should be included in the obstetrics/gynecology medical student evaluation process.