Feedback matters: the impact of an intervention by the dean on unprofessional faculty at one medical school.

PURPOSE: Unprofessional behavior by faculty can result in poor patient care, poor role modeling, and mistreatment of trainees. To improve faculty or institutional behavior, unprofessional faculty must be given direct feedback. The authors sought to determine whether annually surveying medical students for their nominations of most and least professional faculty, coupled with direct feedback to unprofessional faculty from the dean, improved faculty's professional behavior. METHOD: From 2007 to 2012, senior medical students at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine completed an anonymous survey naming the "most professional" and "least professional" faculty in each department. Students described unprofessional behaviors, and their descriptions were qualitatively analyzed. The most unprofessional faculty met with the dean to discuss their behavior. The authors examined differences between faculty named most professional in their department versus those named least professional and whether behavior as measured by student nominations changed following feedback. RESULTS: The response rate overall for six graduating classes was 92.5% (385/416). Faculty named most professional were highly associated with receiving teaching and humanism awards. Faculty named most unprofessional were shown to either leave the institution or improve their behavior after receiving feedback. CONCLUSIONS: Attitudes and behaviors of teachers create the culture of their institution, and unprofessional behavior by these educators can have a profound, negative effect. Direct involvement by the dean may be an effective tool to improve the learning environment of a single institution, but universal application of such a program is needed if the profession as a whole is to improve its culture.

Unprofessional behavior by specialty: a qualitative analysis of six years of student perceptions of medical school faculty.

BACKGROUND: Unprofessional behavior has well documented negative effects both on the clinical care environment and on the learning environment. If unprofessional behavior varies by department or specialty, this has implications both for faculty development and for undergraduate and graduate level training. AIMS: We sought to learn which unprofessional behaviors were endemic in our school, and which were unique to particular departments. METHODS: Students graduating from medical school between 2007 and 2012 were asked to complete a questionnaire naming the most professional and least professional faculty members they encountered in during school. For the least professional faculty members, they were also asked to provide information about the unprofessional behavior. RESULTS: Students noted several types of unprofessional behavior regardless of the department faculty were in; however, there were some behaviors only noted in individual departments. The unprofessional behavior profiles for Surgery and Obstetrics/Gynecology were markedly similar, and were substantially different from all other specialties. CONCLUSION: Undergraduate, graduate, and faculty education focused on unprofessional behavior that may occur in various learning environments may provide a feasible, practical, and an effective approach to creating a culture of professional behavior throughout the organization.

Using patient-provided information to refine sexually transmitted infection screening criteria among women presenting in the emergency department.

Emergency department patients are at increased risk for infection with chlamydia and gonorrhea, but routine screening of asymptomatic patients is problematic. Limiting screening to patients answering the affirmative to 2 questions would reduce the number of tests administered by 51.9%, increase the tested population prevalence to 15.7%, and still identify 82.8% of those infected.

Use of the Internet for the surveillance and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.

The Internet is a relatively new tool in the surveillance and prevention of sexually transmitted infections, and this review examines its global use in this regard. Much use has been made in the form of information collection and dissemination; targeted population engagement through chat rooms, partner notification and other mechanisms; and the provision of testing services and other products. Internet users may need education concerning reputable websites, and public health practitioners need proficiency in the use of social media and marketing.