Professional Attributes Research Articles

Young mothers’ use of and experiences with mental health care services in Ontario, Canada: a qualitative descriptive study

BackgroundDespite the high prevalence of mental health issues among young mothers, their subsequent needs for mental health care support does not correlate with their access and use of services. The purpose of this study, grounded in the experiences of young mothers living in Ontario, Canada, was to describe their experiences of using mental health services during the perinatal period, and to identify the attributes of services and professionals that influenced their decision to engage with mental health services.MethodsAs the qualitative component of a sequential explanatory mixed methods study, the principles of qualitative description informed sampling, data collection, and analysis decisions. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of 29 young mothers (≤ 21 years) who met diagnostic criteria for at least one psychiatric disorder, and who were ≥ 2 months postpartum. Interview data were triangulated with data from ecomaps and a sub-set of demographic data for this purposeful sample from the survey conducted in the quantitative study component. Qualitative data were analyzed using both conventional content analysis and reflexive thematic analysis; the subset of survey data extracted for these 29 participants were analyzed using descriptive statistics.ResultsYoung mothers identified the need to have at least one individual, either an informal social support or formal service provider who they could talk to about their mental health. Among participants deciding to seek professional mental health support, their hesitancy to access services was grounded in past negative experiences or fears of being judged, being medicated, not being seen as an active partner in care decisions or experiencing increased child protection involvement. Participants identified organizational and provider attributes of those delivering mental health care that they perceived influenced their use of or engagement with services.ConclusionOrganizations or health/social care professionals providing mental health services to young pregnant or parenting mothers are recommended to implement trauma-and violence-informed care. This approach prioritizes the emotional and physical safety of individuals within the care environment. Applying this lens in service delivery also aligns with the needs of young mothers, including that they are actively listened to, treated with respect, and genuinely engaged as active partners in making decisions about their care and treatment.

Well-Being May Be the Missing Component of Professionalism in Pharmacy Education

Enhancing student pharmacist professionalism through co-curricular efforts has gained much attention in pharmacy education since release of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education's Standards 2016. Interestingly, traditional and current definitions and attributes of professionalism do not include components of well-being; instead, the ideas of altruism and self-sacrifice predominate. However, providing students with the tools, resources, and time needed to invest in themselves to maintain their well-being is imperative as this in turn allows them to fulfill the pharmacy profession's standards of professional conduct and engagement. Although classic interpretations may seem to conflict, practicing self-care to promote personal well-being is thankfully not in opposition to being an altruistic, self-sacrificing professional. This commentary explores the interplay between the two constructs and postulates that some issues related to student pharmacists' unprofessional behavior can be linked to a lack of well-being. Therefore, pharmacy educators should consider incorporating well-being initiatives into efforts focused on refining student pharmacist professionalism.

Clinical placement challenges associated with radiography education in a low-resource setting: A qualitative exploration of the Ethiopian landscape

IntroductionClinical placements (CP) are of paramount importance in the learning and the acquisition of key competencies in terms of knowledge, skill and professional attributes required for clinical radiography practice. This study explored the challenges faced by radiography students and educators in relation to clinical placement and training in Ethiopia. MethodsA qualitative approach using focus group discussion and interviews were used to explore the experiences of students and educators, respectively, pertaining to challenges encountered in relation to the clinical placement of students across four university affiliated hospitals. Data obtained was analysed using a structured three step framework and the coding approach employed in a thematic analysis. ResultsParticipants comprise of third- and fourth-year undergraduate radiography students (n = 14) and educators [academic faculty (n = 7) and clinical practice educators (n = 8)]. Four main themes were identified, which relate to deficiencies of an existing training curriculum and its implementation strategies, inadequate resource and infrastructure within the CP environments and absence of advanced training opportunities. ConclusionThis research showed that there are many and varied challenges encountered by both students and educators in relation to CP and training of radiography students in Ethiopia. These challenges could potentially affect the future performance of students/practitioners and/or the appropriate application of the core clinical radiography skills and competencies in the world of work. Implications for practiceClinical radiography training in resource-limited settings will require urgent attention and support with modern infrastructure including simulation to augment their clinical development to acceptable standards.

Is it possible to introduce an interview to the Korean Medical Licensing Examination to assess professional attributes?: a survey-based observational study

PurposeThis study aimed to gather opinions from medical educators on the possibility of introducing an interview to the Korean Medical Licensing Examination (KMLE) to assess professional attributes. Specifically following topics were dealt with: the appropriate timing and tool to assess unprofessional conduct; the possiblity of prevention of unprofessional conduct by introducing an interview to the KMLE; and the possibility of implementation of an interview to the KMLE.MethodsA cross-sectional study approach based on a survey questionnaire was adopted. We analyzed 104 pieces of news about doctors’ unprofessional conduct to determine the deficient professional attributes. We derived 24 items of unprofessional conduct and developed the questionnaire and surveyed 250 members of the Korean Society of Medical Education 2 times. Descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation analysis, and Fisher’s exact test were applied to the responses. The answers to the open-ended questions were analyzed using conventional content analysis.ResultsIn the survey, 49 members (19.6%) responded. Out of 49, 24 (49.5%) responded in the 2nd survey. To assess unprofessional conduct, there was no dominant timing among basic medical education (BME), KMLE, and continuing professional development (CPD). There was no overwhelming assessment tool among written examination, objective structured clinical examination, practice observation, and interview. Response rates of “impossible” (49.0%) and “possible” (42.9%) suggested an interview of the KMLE prevented unprofessional conduct. In terms of implementation, “impossible” (50.0%) was selected more often than “possible” (33.3%).ConclusionProfessional attributes should be assessed by various tools over the period from BME to CPD. Hence, it may be impossible to introduce an interview to assess professional attributes to the KMLE, and a system is needed such as self-regulation by the professional body rather than licensing examination.

Portrait of an inclusive lecturer: professional and personal attributes

This paper explores how 119 Spanish lecturers nominated by their students with disabilities as being inclusive define themselves in terms of their professional and personal attributes. It also analyses how these attributes influence student learning and explores the profile of an ideal inclusive lecturer. We conduct- individual interviews. Three major findings emerged from the data: (1) lecturers facilitate the learning of all students; (2) the professional and personal attributes of lecturers influence students’ success at university; and (3) the way lecturers define themselves and their beliefs regarding what an inclusive lecturer should be like are practically identical. This paper concludes that the narratives of these lecturers may perhaps serve to encourage other professionals to understand the importance of these personal and professional characteristics and readjust their practice in collaboration with colleagues. They may also help lecturers realise that inclusive teaching is something which can be learned.

Grounding Inside/Out Professional Identity Formation by Developing Wholehearted Lawyers with Therapeutic Intent

Professional identity formation of law students ideally encompasses both development of the necessary attributes of lawyers as well as a robust philosophy to inform the character of their engagement with the justice system throughout their career. Susan Brooks’ Wholehearted Lawyering teaching principles and practices provide a sound basis for developing the complex core personal, interpersonal, and relational skills necessary for law students and lawyers to maximise constructive interactions within the legal system. Vulnerability Theory and Therapeutic Jurisprudence too, provide sound principles to guide students’ and lawyers’ purposeful engagement with the legal system, particularly to facilitate greater access to justice through resilience-building and therapeutic contributions and impacts. This article proposes an Inside/Out pedagogy that develops students’ awareness of these necessary personal and interpersonal attributes (the Inside) and that provides a framework for purposive engagement grounded in improving access to justice (the Out). This pedagogy systematically embeds both Brooks’ Wholehearted Lawyering scholarship to develop students’ core professional attributes, and principles drawn from Vulnerability Theory and Therapeutic Jurisprudence to stimulate students to crystallise their own purpose as lawyers. The article then examines the development and application of this pedagogy in an Australian legal clinic established in 2020 at Western Sydney University in New South Wales, Australia.

Trait emotional intelligence can predict the health behaviour of employees

Emotional Intelligence can be measured either as an ability, based on maximum performance tests or as a trait, based on self-perception tests. A lot of academic, professional and behavioural attributes have been studied in relation to EI and research has shown that trait EI is better correlated with health outcomes than ability EI. Health behaviour is an understudied subject that has been shown to be linked with EI. The present study evaluated the correlation of EI, measured both by an ability and a trait measure among one hundred nineteen employees of the Indian pharmaceutical industry with health behaviour, as measured by Vickers health behavioural checklist, and to assess the role of age in association with these parameters. Trait EI, as measured by Schutte self-report test, was found to be better correlated with health behaviour than ability EI, as measured by an Indian scale by Chadha and Singh. Further, trait EI was found to be predictive of health behaviour. Age was positively correlated with both ability and trait EI, but not with health behaviour. The potential implication of the results for the organization and the future direction of research in this field has been discussed in the Indian scenario.

The Role of Skills and Gender Norms in Sector Switches: Experimental Evidence from a Job Training Program in Nigeria

Abstract Industrialisation and structural change entails shifting workers from low-skill to high-skill occupations. In emerging economies, multiple constraints may impede sectoral switches among workers, including skill and spatial mismatches, and social norms related to gender in the workplace. This study uses a job training experiment across five cities in Nigeria to estimate the overall effect of training on sectoral switches into the information and communications technology and business process outsourcing sector, and to examine the role of various factors that might constrain switching. After 2 years, the treatment group was 26% more likely to work in the information and communication technology (ICT)-enabled service sector, although they were no more likely to be employed than the control group. Sectoral switches were higher among those with sector-relevant skills, and training magnified the skills premium in switching. Switches were also higher in some cities, despite large improvements in skills in all cities. Women who were implicitly biassed against associating women with professional attributes were two times more likely to switch into ICT than unbiased women, suggesting that training helped overcome internalised social norms among female applicants to the program. These results suggest that training can be an effective strategy for inducing sector switches and overcoming social norms that hamper female mobility in the labour market, and that narrower targeting may make such sector-specific job training programs more effective.

Characteristics of early-career nurse researchers negatively impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study

ObjectivesThis study aimed to identify typical patterns and determinants of early-career nurse researchers (ECNRs: age ≤45 years) who reported that their research activities were negatively impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic,...

Presenting the case for implementing entrustable professional activities (EPA) in Sport and Exercise Sciences teaching: Application and alignment to develop student competencies

Entrustable professional activities (EPA) are commonly integrated within competency frameworks across many healthcare curricula but are less evident in the training of Sport and Exercise Scientists. Equipping graduates with the key knowledge, skills and professional attributes to complete practical tasks competently with minimal supervision in the workplace is essential. Entrustable professional activities are an indicator of practical competency within a field of work, enabling students to independently display specific practical expertise in an authentic workplace setting. The aim of this paper is to describe how entrustable professional activities can be implemented into Sport and Exercise Sciences teaching in Higher Education. To guide the paper, a narrative review approach was utilised to identify current EPA frameworks and processes in use. A framework and competency matrix were developed based on the accreditation criteria of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES) and implemented into an introductory module. The EPA framework was evaluated by asking students (n = 47) to rank the importance of the competency action statements. The EPA framework was successfully used within a module and the framework was defined as a matrix, with statements aligned to a selection of expected graduate competencies, as EPAs were not related to specific tasks but were designed to cover the tests included in the module. EPAs offer a well-structured teaching and learning tool with clear alignment to the overall discipline of Sport and Exercise Sciences. EPAs may aid the professional development of key attributes and skills to produce work-ready Sport and Exercise Science graduates.

The Primacy of Secondary Things: A Sustained Scientific Dialogue on Three Edges of the Journalistic Field

While the sociology of journalism has traditionally granted epistemic privilege to the mainstream news media, professional elites and their dominant meta-discourse, there is a recent trend to research journalism from other points of view. Researchers have investigated alternative and community media, journalists with low visibility or legitimacy in the workplace, as well as heterodox conceptions of professional excellence. These studies shed new light on little studied sub-groups and practices. How can we integrate them into a sustained scientific dialogue between researchers? This paper presents a methodologically original attempt to do so by dialogically re-interrogating material from studies of three situations where journalism absorbs precarious and politicised agents in the field (media activists), new practices and tasks that need doing (online discussion administration) and unusual kinds of professional attributes (experiencing emotionality in crisis reporting). In each case journalism’s pursuit of professional autonomy is at stake, since conditions of production clash with established professional myths and practices or generate incompatibilities with institutionalised expectations. Our three-way exchange using the bridging/sensitising concept of edge focuses on the conversion or convertibility of external forms of capital (legitimacies, resources and experiences) into forms redeemable and tradeable in a professional field. It exhibits how forces external to the journalistic profession are (made) present in each case but refracted differently in each local configuration. We call for a more systematic and relational study of these kinds of localised refractions.

Behavioral Patterns and Professional Attributes of Filipino Subject Teachers in Relation to Students’ Performance

The study generally aimed to determine the behavioral patterns and professional attributes of Filipino subject teachers in relation to students’ performance in selected secondary schools in Area III, Leyte Division. A standardized questionnaire was used to gather information from the Filipino subject teachers regarding their behavioral patterns and professional attributes in relation to the students’ performance. The data were analysed and interpreted with the aid of the statistical tool. Weighted mean was used in determining the behavioral patterns of Filipino subject teachers. As a result of the survey conducted data gathered were the following: Professional attributes of Filipino subject teachers in terms of educational attainment, majority had earned MA units; as to teaching experience, they have rendered 10-14 years; and relative to in-service training, majority of them attended at the division level. With regards to the behavioral patterns of Filipino subject teachers as evaluated by the students, it was perceived good. Further, on the level of students’ performance, they were rated satisfactory performance.

Ethical Issues in Research Writing

The topic to be undertaken for presentation encompasses more than the mundane values and attributes of professionalism in ethical values in research writing. The corpus of the research paper and its genesis comprises three component namely what is ethical writing, secondly what is research writing and over all interconnected and inter related with ethical parameters in research writing vis-a-vis unethical, anti-professional, immoral spheres of literary theft or stealing envisaged as stigmatic system of plagiarism. In common parlance ethical principles of writing are embedded in honesty, integrity, tactfulness, truthfulness, catholicity, piety, chastity and purity et.al. Not to Plagiarize any idea or thought in part or in full or not to acknowledge the authorship or writership of the work concerned cover the entire arena of ethical writing. The committee on Publishing Ethics (COPE), UK has defined Plagiarism as “the unreferenced use of other published and unpublished ideas”. To evolve basic tenets of writing articles, research papers, monographs, editorials, book reviews, thesis writing, desertions writing et al ought to follow basic guidelines, parameters, touchstones or testimonials of writing professional ethical issues, concepts, ethical codes, ethical audit of human values and attitudes vis-a-vis amateur ways of negative writing, shoddy output, ineffective and deficient turnout in day today casual attempts and half baked ideas. The motto of ethical writing is befriended with let ‘truth prevail’.

Primary Care Physicians' Personal and Professional Attributes Associated With Forgoing Own Care and Presenteeism: A Cross Sectional Study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence of forgoing care and forgoing sick leave among primary care physicians (PCPs) in Switzerland and to investigate associated factors. Methods: A random sample of 1,000 PCPs in French-speaking regions of Switzerland (participation rate: 50%) was asked whether they had forgone care and sick leave during the last year. Sociodemographic, personal and occupational characteristics were recorded. Logistic regressions were performed to study these behaviours. Results: 37% of respondents reported at least one episode of forgoing care and 29% reported an episode of forgoing sick leave. No associations were found between individual characteristics and forgoing care. A heavy workload was the most common reason evoked for forgoing care. Coming to work when sick (presenteeism) was associated with female sex, younger age, having a chronic illness, working in a suburban area and working full-time. Conclusion: A high proportion of PCPs in Switzerland is forgoing own care and continues to work despite sickness. New generations of PCPs should require careful monitoring, and specific solutions should be sought to reduce these harmful behaviours.

EMOTIONAL EMPATHY AND ALTRUISM AMONG HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

Objective: In the present study the empathy-altruism hypothesis was studied. According to empathy-altruism hypothesis, altruistic acts stimulated by empathy, are directed to improve another person's welfare. Purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of the emotional empathy and altruism and to determine the predictive power of emotional empathy for altruism among health professionals. Methods: Correlational and cross-sectional research designs were used for the present study. Sample size was estimated through G*power and 200 health professionals (100 MBBS and 100 BDS) were taken from different government and private hospitals and health institutes through purposive sampling technique. Age range of participants was 24-35 years (M=31.45, SD=3.39). Bio data form, Multidimensional Emotional Empathy Scale and Helping attitude scale were used to get demographic information and to assess the emotional empathy and altruistic behaviour respectively of health professionals. Data were analysed by using SPSS 23. Results: Results of the present study showed strong and positive relationship between emotional empathy and altruism among health professionals. Hierarchical regression analysis was run to find the predictive power of emotional empathy for altruistic behaviour of the health professionals. After controlling age, gender, level of education and marital status, emotional empathy emerged as the strong predictor for altruistic behaviour among health professional. Emotional empathy accounted 31.3 % variance for altruistic behaviour. This study can create awareness about the role of health professionals and their behaviour towards patients. Health professional’s emotional empathy is the compulsory factors for defining their attitude towards their patients. Conclusion: Emotional empathy plays an important role in the altruistic attributes of health professionals. Some training programs must be arranged to enhance their emotional empathy

Perception of Medical Professionalism Among Ophthalmology Residents in Saudi Arabia: A National Survey Study.

Studies have shown that there are significant differences in the concepts of medical professionalism among residents. Very few studies have specifically evaluated the perception of medical professionalism in a specific specialty. The aim of the study is to evaluate the perception of medical professionalism among ophthalmology residents and to assess the differences in the concept of professionalism between junior and senior residents. This cross-sectional study used a questionnaire to survey ophthalmology residents enrolled in different regions of Saudi Arabia in 2020. The ophthalmology residents included both junior and senior residents. In this study, "professionalism" concurred with the definition in the American Board of Internal Medicine's "Project Professionalism" and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. A total of 167 participants were recruited in the study. Out of the 127 participants who completed the survey, 60 (47.24%) were junior residents and 67 (52.76%) were senior residents. The scores for the attributes varied markedly. The lowest score obtained was 6.54 ± 3.349 for the attribute "In an emergency putting the welfare of others over my own safety" in the "Altrusim" domain and the highest score obtained was 9.62 ± 0.854 for the attribute "respect for co-workers" in the "Respect for others" domain. Out of the total residents who completed the survey (n = 127), 84 (66.14%) agreed that professionalism is teachable through a residency curriculum and 85 (66.93%) thought that it is testable. The characteristics of different attributes of professionalism varied significantly among the residents. The findings of the present study highlights that the conceptualization and perception of professionalism is changing and there is a need to focus on the resident curriculum to instill the values of professionalism. Targeted training is needed on the concepts of professionalism to develop behaviors consistent with medical professionalism and to evaluate the levels of professionalism among residents.

Using content validity measures to evaluate the Biosystems Engineering Program at the University of Manitoba

An exploratory case study was designed to determine the relative importance of the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) graduate attributes as perceived by University of Manitoba engineering stakeholders. Findings were used to examine the content validity of the Biosystems Engineering program. The overarching objective was to explore how graduate attribute emphasis in engineering programs reflect graduate attribute importance reported by key stakeholders. Problem Analysis, Investigation, Design, Communication Skills, Impact of Engineering on Society & the Environment, and Use of Engineering Tools had similar expected (mean relative importance) and observed (content and assessment program coverage) data percentages. The gap was wider for other graduate attributes, with the most surprising being Knowledge Base. Overall, the pattern of results suggests that various professional attributes (e.g., Professionalism, Ethics & Equity, and Lifelong Learning) should be more prominent in content and assessments within an engineering program. Recommendations to improve methods to assess content validity in engineering programs are discussed.

Valued attributes of professional support for people who repeatedly self-harm: A systematic review and meta-synthesis of first-hand accounts.

Therapeutic interventions are an important adjunct to self‐help strategies for people who self‐harm. There is little guidance for those offering therapy on the effective components of interventions for people who self‐harm. This was a systematic review aiming to identify the factors that contribute to positive experiences of therapy as described by people who have reduced or stopped self‐harm. The review followed PRISMA guidelines to locate and synthesize peer‐reviewed qualitative studies describing experiences of therapy among people who had reduced or stopped self‐harm. Study selection, data extraction, and quality assessment were peer reviewed and conducted for at least two researchers independently. Relevant first‐hand quotations were extracted from eligible studies and synthesized using a thematic analysis in collaboration with experts with personal and professional experience of self‐harm. Twenty‐three studies met eligibility criteria. Themes identified in the reported accounts were arranged under two meta‐themes. ‘Positive aspects of seeing a professional’ identified aspects of professional care that were common to all encounters: the value of sharing, space to talk and reflect, and the boundaries inherent in contact with a professional. ‘Positive attributes of individual professionals’ depended upon individual characteristics: the ability to build reciprocal trust by being non‐judgemental, showing genuine empathic concern, and being confident to talk about and respond directly to self‐harm. Our review indicates that therapeutic alliance is perceived as key to effective professional help for self‐harm, irrespective of underlying principles of therapy. All forms of therapy should be timely and reliable and centred around the needs of the individual and their experience of self‐harm.

On directors’ compensation: a multilevel analysis of Spanish listed companies

This study analyzes the determinants of the annual compensation of directors belonging to the boards of the Spanish companies that constitute the IBEX 35 stock index. We investigate the importance of observed and unobserved heterogeneity in explaining director compensation. Based on a three-level mixed effect model, our analysis includes time-invariant random effects at company and manager level as determinants of director pay. We find that company effects explain 30% of the variation in director pay, while company and director effects taken together explain 77% of that variation. Our findings suggest that the characteristics of the company, in terms of activity sector, size and financial performance, and the professional attributes of the director (especially the role within the board), influence the compensation received. In addition, some directors and companies show random effects (either positive or negative) that significantly separate them from the expected compensation estimated from the fixed part of the model.

Professional Behavior Attributes: A Survey of Occupational Therapy Faculty Perspectives

Professionalism in occupational therapy has been challenging to define due to differing values and behaviors across contexts and professions. There is a difference between how occupational therapy students and faculty view and comprehend professionalism suggesting that occupational therapists may not have an established sense of professionalism when entering the health care field for the first time. The study's purpose was to examine occupational therapy faculty’s perceptions of essential professional behavior attributes that students should possess to succeed in occupational therapy practice. This study utilized a survey methodology to anonymously collect opinions from 150 occupational therapy faculty members across the United States regarding professional behavior attributes essential for entry-level occupational therapy education. Researchers found that the five most frequently observed professional behavior attributes in occupational therapy students were empathy, enthusiasm, being personable, having a positive attitude, and responsibility. The top seven most important professional behavior attributes were being clinically competent and ethical, having communication and interpersonal skills, and being adaptable, responsible, and empathetic. The results of this study indicate that occupational therapy faculty perceive that many vital attributes contribute to professionalism within the occupational therapy field and that teaching professionalism is an integral part of occupational therapy education. This study contributes to the current literature of defining professionalism within occupational therapy to better equip occupational therapy students entering into practice.