A Professional Development Course Improves Unprofessional Physician Behavior

摘要

Background: In 2008 The Joint Commission issued a Sentinel Event Alert that further defined “behaviors that undermine a culture of safety,”stating that “intimidating and disruptive behaviors” can result in medical errors that affect patient care and safety. The American College of Physician Executives found that more than 95% of respondents encountered “disturbing . . . and potentially dangerous”behaviors on a regular basis. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a professional development program on unprofessional physician behaviors using the B29 ? , a reliable and valid tool to assess workplace behaviors. Methods: A pre-post study design was used to measure changes in physicians’ unprofessional behaviors using the B29, a 35-item, Web-based survey. The survey is completed as a 360 ° assessment by peers, colleagues, administrators, and staff, and the physician completes a self-assessment. In most cases, the survey is voluntary. Those who completed both a precourse and a postcourse survey made up a convenience sample or subset of the larger number of physicians who completed the course. Results: Twenty-four of 28 physicians in the study experienced an improvement in professional behavior, demonstrated as a decrease in the number of lowest-rated items. The mean decrease for all 28 physicians was 51.1%. Lowest-rated items improved an average of 53.5% overall. T-scores increased (also improved) for 24 of 28 physicians over the six-month period. Conclusion: Unprofessional behavior by physicians, as observed and reported by their peers and colleagues, can be positively modified by a relatively brief education program focused on teaching professionalism.