Professionalism
Code of Conduct
Burnett School of Medicine students must adhere to the TCU Code of Conduct.
Educator-Learner Compact
The School of Medicine values mutual respect, compassion, professionalism and integrity and is dedicated to creating a safe and collaborative environment for learning while training the next generation of physicians. Teachers and learners share responsibility for the education process and pledge to uphold these principles. For more information, view Educator-Learner Compact.
Expectations Regarding Professionalism Statement of Foundational Principles
The professional development of medical students is an essential part of medical education and is a fundamental aspect in becoming an Empathetic Scholar. Students are expected to meet the Burnett School of Medicine standards of professional behavior as part of their professional development. Please refer to the Expectations Regarding Professionalism Statement of Foundational Principles document for the full SOM professionalism expectations and see below for specific examples.
1. Attend and participate for the full duration of mandatory curricular sessions, meetings and other activities as directed by SOM leadership. This includes participating with your camera on for any virtual curricular sessions or mandatory meetings.
2. Arrive on time and prepared to curriculum sessions, clinical responsibilities, exams, meetings, and appointments with faculty.
3. Notify faculty, staff and peers in a timely manner prior to delays, absences and anticipated absences.
4. Submit complete assignments on time by the deadlines defined in the course, clerkship or electives syllabus.
5. Communicate any changes to the LIC clinical schedule to the preceptor, course or clerkship director and the LIC coordinators.
6. Communicate with faculty and staff in a respectful and timely manner-this includes replying to emails within 48 hours or less if possible and only utilizing text communication when given permission and within normal business hours unless there is an emergency.
7. Dress appropriately for the circumstances, including professional attire for any interactions that include patients or standardized patients.
8. Complete credentialing and other SOM requirements by their due date.
9. Treat others (patients, peers, faculty, staff, etc.) with respect.
Any lapses in professionalism will lead to the following actions described below. The SOM reserves the right to immediately refer a student to the Student Progress and Promotion Committee (SPPC) or others (if appropriate) for lapses that are significant, for example placing others in danger or violating state or federal law.
When an infraction occurs, the involved faculty will always notify the Academic Coaches who will be responsible for tracking the number of lapses and escalating as appropriate, as they will be able to identify patterns of behaviors across the curriculum.
The number of offenses may all involve the same lapse in professionalism or may be different types of offenses.
First offense: The involved faculty will email the student and copy the Academic Coach. If the Academic Coach recognizes that the offense represents a pattern or offenses have occurred in other courses, they can require a mandatory meeting with the student and escalate appropriately.
Second offense: The student must have a mandatory meeting with the involved faculty to discuss the issue. The faculty will also email the student’s Academic Coach.
Third offense: The student must have a mandatory meeting with the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs or her designee and the Academic Coach.
Fourth offense: The student is referred to Student Progress and Promotion Committee (SPPC).
The SPPC may require a remediation or professional improvement plan (PrIP) or discuss dismissal for students failing to meet professionalism standards. The committee will consider the professionalism concern in terms of the severity of the concern, any pattern of behavior and the student's response to feedback. Wording concerning the lapse in professionalism may be included in the student’s MSPE.
Guidelines for Healthy Professional Relationships
Unfortunately, mistreatment of medical students has been repeatedly reported to be common in the domains of sexual harassment, discrimination, and abusive behaviors despite decades of efforts to address them. Given the unequal power dynamic between preceptors and medical students, there is an inherent potential for exploitation of this relationship. Awareness of this power differential and active ongoing boundary assessment and management are key steps in helping both preceptors and medical students navigate these professional relationships. For more information, view Guidelines for Healthy Professional Relationships.
Learning Environment and Student Mistreatment Policy
The School of Medicine ensures that students, faculty and staff consistently demonstrate professional behaviors in order to create a safe and effective learning environment with a zero-tolerance for any form of mistreatment within the school, and notably against students. For more information, view Learning Environment and Student Mistreatment Policy.
Professional Expectations and Guidelines
The professional development of medical students is an essential part of medical education and is a fundamental aspect in becoming an Empathetic Scholar. Students are expected to meet the Burnett SOM standards of professional behavior as part of their professional development. For more information, view Professional Expectations and Guidelines.
Contact the Professional Resource Officer
Letter sent to all students:
Professionalism: Expectations For All Students
Students,
Happy New Year! We have so much to look forward to in 2023, including our first class Match Day and Graduation, continued work on the new building, and the 150th anniversary of TCU (hopefully as National Champions!).
A new year also gives us time to reflect on where we are as a SOM and opportunities for improvement. We have gotten some feedback on professionalism, both from our on campus faculty, as well as our clinical and community partners, citing quite a few recent examples of SOM students demonstrating behaviors that are a poor reflection on you as well as our school. Here are a few recent quotes, each from different groups:
“Can you let your students know that if they want lunch, they must stay for conference? There is a trend of arriving late, grabbing lunch, and leaving. If they don't intend to stay, they can't take lunch. Also, we are hearing rumblings from students complaining they have to stay at the hospital after noon. Somehow their expectation is they get to leave early every day. Can you remind them that we are here to educate, they should take advantage of the opportunities provided, and they should plan to stay until the team is finished with duties each day?”
"With regards to the clinical work, it sounds as though the students were more concerned with passing their Step 1 exam, and were continually seeking to be excused from clinical work to go study.”
“Your students are developing a reputation of being entitled compared to other schools, they want to show up at their convenience and seem to be more focused on scores and grades than on learning how to take care of their patients.”
“Your fourth year students are behaving like they have already matched and don’t have to participate."
“I was really surprised they came to our community meeting in gym clothes.”- from one of our community partners
This is just a selection of the communication we have received, and the feedback has come from across classes. We know that these behaviors involve only a minority of students, but unfortunately the number and theme of the comments have risen to a level where these actions are impacting the reputation of all. We would ask that you first look individually to determine if there are any areas of improvement you might undertake personally, and also work together as peers to hold each other accountable.
Additionally, as discussed, and in response to extensive student feedback, the new professionalism protocol is attached and will also be posted on Canvas. The hope is that this document will provide clarity on expectations and also clarity and standardization in approach when expectations are not met.
We believe that you all want to behave in a professional manner and know that you want the best for your patients, your training and your school. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Drs. Chadwick, Lundsteen and Leuck