Professionalism Milestones

Professionalism is at the core of UTMB’s institutional mission of education, patient care and research, and is critical to our success as an academic medical center.

The Journey to Creating a Campus-Wide Culture of Professionalism, Academic Medicine, November 2007
The above titled article, written by Dr. Kirk Smith, Dr. Rebecca Saavedra, Ms. Jennifer Raeke, and Dr. Alice Anne O'Donell was accepted for publication in the November 2007 issue of Academic Medicine.

2006 President's Office Announces Professionalism Project Awards
The Professionalism Project Awards were created in an effort to increase the discussion and activities around the commitments of the UTMB Professionalism Charter across the campus.  The commitments are to:  Professional Responsibilities, Service, Diversity, Professional Competence, Confidentiality, Honesty, Responsible Use of Resources, Improving Access to Education and Health Care, Quality, Maintaining Appropriate Relations, Managing Conflicts of Interest and Knowledge.  Each award submission included a description of the project, a budget and the metrics that will be used to judge its success.  Awardees will have one year to complete the project.  At the culmination of the year-long project, projects will be judged and the most innovative and effective initiative will be selected for a prestigious President's Professionalism Award.  An institution-wide Professionalism Summit will be the capstone event of this project.  The Summit will include selected presentations by those areas whose projects are of broad interest and serve as models that can be replicated by other areas in the institution.  Each group that received an award will also be asked to participate in a poster session.

2006 UTMB is one of 12 U.S. and Canadian medical schools and academic medical centers chosen for an Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) project entitled Leadership and Transforming the Culture and Environment to Educate for Medical Professionalism:  What Actions Are Institutions Taking?
The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has played a major leadership role in educating for professionalism through a sustained series of activities over the past several decades.  More recently, professionalism has been identified and mandated as a competency through the educational spectrum -- from medical school through maintenance of certification.  To identify and document what professionalism means and the success factors which transform the institutional culture and environment to educate accordingly, a series of 2 day visits are planned to 12 US and Canadian medical schools and academic medical centers during the year for the purpose of meeting with the deans of the medical schools, chief medical and academic officers, hospital CEOs, key chairs and faculty, medical educators, students, residents, and others who are essential to the academic enterprise.

Through a series of short interviews with the institutional leadership, hospital CEO, other key faculty, and, as importantly, medical students and house staff, a set of core questions, using appreciative inquiry, serve as the centerpiece for conversations and data collection.  Linda L. Blank, Robert G. Petersdorf Scholar with the Association of American Medical Colleges was on the UTMB campus March 1-3, 2006, to conduct this project.

The project will conclude with a report of the findings and set of recommendations that can help inform other institutions involved in such transformation as well as the AAMC.  A presentation during the November 2006 AAMC meeting was held; also targeted are several peer review publications.

2006 Clinical Laboratory Sciences (CLS) professionalism pin ceremony inaugurated in the School of Allied Health Sciences. Faculty presented students with professionalism pins specially designed for the ceremony, which will take place for new students annually in Old Red. The rite of passage emphasizes students' commitment to professionalism, high ideals and ethics.

2005 This fall saw several important workshops and presentations. First, Drs. Judy Drew, Alice Ann O’Donell, Suzanne Peloquin, Rebecca Saavedra and Karen Szauter led a workshop at the UTMB Faculty Educational Retreat entitled "What Pushes Your Button: Dialogues on Professional Education." This was accompanied by the poster presentation "Adapting the Professionalism Charter to the UTMB Community."

We were then well-represented in November, when our faculty presented at the AAMC:

Szauter K, Wragg S, Ainsworth M, Bauer D. Medical Student and Faculty Responses to Breaches of Academic Integrity. American Association of Medical Colleges, Research in Medical Education Washington DC Nov 2005 (poster).

Ainsworth M, Szauter K. Professional Behavior: Are We Measuring the Right Behaviors? American Association of Medical Colleges, Research in Medical Education Washington DC Nov 2005 (oral abstract presentation).

2005 The much-anticipated second iteration of the Professionalism Charter was completed, and is now being distributed and used as a learning tool in student and employee orientations. The Charter was revised based on feedback from individual employees and students and from focus groups conducted to assess the original version. The goal was to make the document more concise and to ensure that it would apply to all of us at UTMB regardless of our role or position. Look for a comprehensive distribution to current employees, faculty and students in January, and an upcoming feature in the campus newsletter, Impact.

2005 The John P. McGovern, M.D., Chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society
The John P. McGovern Chapter of The Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, TX was established in May, 2005 by the John P. McGovern Academy of Oslerian Medicine and the School of Medicine.  The purpose of establishing a GHHS chapter at this institution is to provide an important complement to Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) by recognizing not only students that excel academically, but also those medical students, house officers, and faculty members that demonstrate exemplary humanistic qualities in the care of patients.

The Arnold P. Gold Foundation initiated the GHHS in 2001 in hopes that the values of humanism and professionalism would be recognized in individuals that "demonstrated excellence in clinical care, leadership, compassion, and dedication to service."  At UTMB, there is a growing recognition that a health care provider's professionalism and humanism directly and tangibly improve the quality of patient care, just as does a physician's mastery of the science of medicine.  The McGovern Chapter of the GHHS seeks to encourage these characteristics among UTMB's medical students, residents, and faculty through recognizing those individuals that already serve as examples of professionalism and humanism to others and by encouraging mentorship among physicians and medical students in order to facilitate the development and propagation of these important characteristics.

2004 Dr. Maxine Papadakis, associate dean of student affairs and professor of clinical medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine, served as the impetus for a one-day professionalism summit with department chairs and faculty from UTMB’s four schools. The focus of the summit was the important role faculty play in modeling professionalism. Papadakis' complete article was titled “Unprofessional Behavior in Medical School is Associated with Subsequent Disciplinary Action by a State Medical Board.”

2003 Florence Nightingale Ceremony initiated—a new component of the School of Nursing graduation, the special ceremony—which speaks to the proud history of nursing and the commitment to nursing as a profession—is in addition to the Nightingale pledge which serves as the nursing profession’s equivalent to the physician’s pledge of ethical behavior, the Hippocratic Oath.

2003 Diversity Council established—president-appointed working group committed to fostering an environment in which everyone—regardless of gender, age, ethnicity, physical capability, religious affiliation, sexual orientation or cultural background—can be a productive member of the UTMB community.

2003 Student Honor Pledge Day—Honor Pledge Committee, with the support of the Student Government Association and Honor Council, unveil Honor Pledge to the entire UTMB faculty, staff and students at a January launch on the Moody Medical Plaza.

2002 Student Honor Pledge recited—26-word pledge created by the Honor Pledge Committee introduced to new students for the first time at the August all-student orientation. New pledge serves as a capstone to the UTMB Honor Policy.

2002 Professionalism Charter Subcommittee formed—group created to fulfill project goals of Putting the Charter Into Practice project. Comprised of administrative, clinical, faculty and student participation, the subcommittee aims to apply the ABIM’s physician charter to not just its medical students, but to everyone at UTMB.

2002 UTMB selected to participate in a medical professionalism pilot project entitled Putting the Charter Into Practice, sponsored by the ABIM Foundation—project, launched in November 2002 at the annual meeting of the AAMC in San Francisco, is one of a series of targeted activities stemming from the Medical Professionalism Project’s physician charter—in this case applying the physician charter to the student level.

2002 Honor Pledge Committee formed—comprised of two students from each of UTMB’s four schools, committee created as part of student campaign to unify the campus under one statement about integrity, compassion and respect—the principles behind professionalism.

2002 Values in Professionalism (VIP) program launched—professionalism program targets managers on issues of accountability, communication and respect in order to help strengthen workplace and heighten satisfaction.

2002 The ABIM, ACP-ASIM and EFIM publish a physician charter on medical professionalism through the phase I work of its Medical Professionalism Project—charter’s three fundamental principles and set of professional responsibilities intended to influence and inform culture of medical education and practice, and to encourage debate.

2001 School of Allied Health Sciences White Coat Ceremony instituted—white coats new allied health sciences students receive upon entry into school marks the beginning of a lifetime of learning for the students and highlights importance of a person in a white coat to be professional, knowledgeable, confident and compassionate. Allied health sciences students take the Physician Assistant Professional Oath—the three primary parts of which are respect, integrity and compassion.

2001 You Count! employee survey instituted—survey utilized to solicit and assess perceptions employees have UTMB, its environment and the work being done here—a useful tool in measuring progress on creating an optimal atmosphere for accomplishing UTMB’s missions.

2001 John P. McGovern Academy of Oslerian Medicine established on UTMB’s campus—“Osler Scholars,” elected School of Medical faculty and physicians, serve as role models for the ideals of medical humanism and professionalism.

2001 Going the Extra Mile (GEM) program launched—designed for UTMB employees, students and volunteers to recognize each other for exhibiting outstanding professional behavior in their daily activities.

2000 UTMB Professionalism Board created—board, comprised of a cross-section of clinical, administrative and educational leadership, formed under Stobo’s guidance with a mission of finding ways to promote a culture of professionalism on UTMB’s campus.  This group was dissolved in September 2006 by Dr. Stobo.

2000 Dr. Stobo first quarterly professionalism column published in UTMB’s bi-weekly campus publication Impact.

1999 President’s Cabinet Awards establishes Creating a Healing Environment theme for annual grant proposals—new grant proposal theme focuses on systems, protocols and partnerships which allow for the empowerment of the whole person, which put the people UTMB services first, and which stress compassionate care and service.

1999 The ABIM Foundation and American College of Physicians Foundation-American Society of Internal Medicine (ACP-ASIM), in partnership with the European Federation of Internal Medicine (EFIM), sponsor the Medical Professionalism Project—collaborative effort designed to raise the concept of professionalism within the consciousness of internal medicine, both in the U.S. and Europe.

1999 Terrific Employees Excel in Attendance Stewardship (TEXAS) program instituted to reward classified employees for being excellent stewards of their sick leave.

1999 Standards of Conduct Guide first distributed—outlines laws and policies UTMB is required to comply with as an academic health center in order to protect fellow employees, patients and students, as well as to protect UTMB’s standing as a public trust.

1999 Rumors or Trumors web site launch—creates forum for employees and students to submit rumors and receive candid, timely responses in order to improve morale and increase employee productivity.

1999 Professionalism Lunches initiated—Dr. Stobo initiates monthly lunches with campus leadership around the need to reinforce the importance of professionalism at UTMB and gauge awareness-levels on the issue.

1998 Community of Scholars ceremony instituted—new Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences students receive a Community of Scholars lapel pin symbolizing the unifying ideals of the community of scholars and recite the Graduate Student Code of Conduct oath, which comprises of 11 principles reflecting honesty, justice, personal integrity, respect, and professional and social responsibility.

1998 First All-Student Orientation established—provides opportunity for professional socialization of students into the university setting. Students receive information about student and academic life, as well as expectations as new members of the health profession.

1998 Committees on Reaching for Excellence (CORE)—four subcommittees addressing Access, Communication, Professionalism, and Service formed with the goal of helping to make UTMB the most affordable, easiest to access and highest quality health care facility in service region.

1998 Professionalism & You at UTMB brochure published—annual brochure spotlights individuals and groups who exemplify professional behavior throughout UTMB’s administrative, clinical and education settings.

Oct. 1997 Dr. Stobo arrives at UTMB as president of the university.

1996 School of Medicine White Coat Ceremony instituted—ceremony at which medical students pledge to always do their best for their patients and receive a symbolic white coat. First established at Columbia University in 1993, the white coats new medical students receive upon entry into medical school are an outward sign of their commitment to compassion and excellence.

1995 Principles of Service (POS) program institutional launch—leads participants through exercises and discussions focused on guiding principles of UTMB: professionalism, teamwork, and improvement. Program also served as an opportunity for employees to weigh in on what they think and feel about the UTMB community.

1994 Employee Service Day launch—institutional program that recognizes employees with pins for years of service, as well as for their excellent customer service to the university.

1992 American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Project Professionalism subcommittee convenes—chaired by Dr. Stobo, subcommittee aims to enhance evaluation of professionalism as a component of clinical competence and to promote the integrity of internal medicine. Established in 1990, project creates working definition of professionalism and educational resources, published in June 1994.

1990 UTMB Honor Education Council, an organization run by medical students, formed with the mission of helping medical students and faculty develop an ethical decision-making process within a spirit of honor.

1950 The Code for Professional Nurses formalized and accepted by the American Nurses Association House of Delegates.

1926 A suggested code of ethics was published in the American Journal of Nursing (AJN.)

1893 The “Nightingale Pledge,” patterned after medicine’s Hippocratic Oath, is recognized as nursing’s first code of ethics.