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Faculty Affairs & Professional Development

328 Anatomy Chemistry Building
3620 Hamilton Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6015
Phone: 215-898-4621
Fax: 215-573-2592
Email: facaffrs@mail.med.upenn.edu

FAPD » Professionalism

Professionalism

Doctor-Patient

Policies
Resources  
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Penn Publications     
Calendar of Events       
Research Projects
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Welcome to the Penn School of Medicine Professionalism website. Penn Medicine is dedicated to maintaining a high standard of professionalism in all of our missions. The existence of professions depends on a social contract, in which society confers privileges in exchange for obligations. Medicine has the privileges of autonomy, of setting standards and of awarding licensure, of monopoly over the provision of care and over training of the next generation of physicians. It has the obligations to improve quality; to remediate and discipline members who fail to meet professional standards; and to work for access to care and just distribution of resources. Maintaining high quality in all the missions of contemporary medicine requires teamwork. In turn, teamwork demands mutual respect between physicians, patients, co-workers and trainees. The interdependence of teamwork and respect is expressed in the Penn Medicine Statement on Professionalism.

Our professionalism effort is comprehensive and includes:

This website provides resources, information, and contacts to those who are involved, and those who would like to be involved, in this effort.

Statement on Professionalism

The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Health System are committed to meeting the highest standards of clinical care, education, and research. In serving our patients, educating our students, and conducting biomedical investigation, collaboration an teamwork are essential. Effective teamwork requires that all faculty members, students, trainees, and staff treat one another and the patients they see with unfailing respect, civility, and dignity. Members of our community, including patients, must never be subjected to disrespect of any kind or to discrimination on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, color, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, or veteran status.

The needs of patients take precedence over the financial and academic interests and professional prerogatives of faculty, students, trainees, and staff. Conflict of interest must be managed, minimized, and disclosed in accordance with our policies; it must never threaten the relationship of trust between patients or research subjects and our institution in the delivery of clinical care and the performance of research. We respect and assure the right of patients and research subjects to full explanation of the risks and benefits of medical and research interventions; the right to confidentiality in the use and disclosure of medical information; and the expectation that patients injured by medical error will be informed and dealt with in a fair and open manner.

We pledge to work continuously to advance the frontiers of biomedical knowledge; to improve our quality of care, maximize patient safety, and minimize medical error; and to improve the health care delivery system at community, state, national, and global levels. We are committed to full access to medical care for all members of society and to just distribution of health care resources.

Endorsed by the HUP Medical Board 4/23/08

Calendar of Events

No Events Presently Scheduled

Past Presentations

William Carlos Williams Conference (Video) - "Professional Behavior and Patient Satisfaction" -by Dr. David Stern - November 12, 2008

Williams Carlos Williams Conference (Video) - " Sustaining Professionalism in the Era of Physician Shortages" - by Dr. Buz Cooper - December 17, 2008

Policies

Resources

At Penn

National

Programs

Narrative Professionalism Committee
Professional Curriculum Committee
Professional Oversight Committee
Professionalism Research Committee
Professionalism Research Working Group

 

Penn Medicine Publications on Professionalism and Humanism

Contributions to the published literature by members of the Penn community. Please alert us to publications that should be included.

Cooper R.A., Tauber AI. New physicians for a new century. Acadademic Medicine 2005;80:1085-1088

Bellini L.M., Shea J.A. Mood change and empathy decline persist during three years of internal medicine training. Academic Medicine. 80(2):164-7, 2005 Feb

Lewin L.O. Lanken P.N. Longitudinal small-group learning during the first clinical year. Family Medicine. 36 Suppl:S83-8, 2004 Jan

Kogan, Jennifer R., Bellini, Lisa M., Shea, Judy A. The impace of resident duty hour reform in a medicine core clerkship. Academic Medicine. 79(10 Suppl):S58-61, 2004 Oct

Bellini, Lisa M., Baime, Michael, Shea, Judy A. Variation of mood and empathy during internship. JAMA. 287(23):3143-6, 2002 Jun 19

Shea, J.A., Bellini, L.M., Reynolds, E. E. Assessing and changing unprofessional behaviors among faculty, residents, and students. Academic Medicine. 75(5):512, 2000 May

Wasserstein, A.G., Brennan, P.J., Rubenstein, A.H. Institutional leadership and faculty response: Fostering professionalism at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Academic Medicine. 2007; 82(11):1049-1056

Wasserstein, A.G. Lessons in medical humanism: the case of Montiagne. Annals of Internal Medicine. 146(11):809-13, 2007 Jun 5

Wasserstein, A.G., Quistberg D.A., Shea, J.A. Mentoring at the University of Pennsylvania: results of a faculty survey. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 22(2):210-4, 2007 Feb.

Wasserstein, A.G. Death and the internal milieu: Claude Bernard and the origins of experimental medicine. Perspectives in Biology & Medicine. 39(3):313-26, 1996

 

Research Projects

Contact Us

Jack Truten (jack.truten@uphs.upenn.edu)
Alan Wasserstein, MD (alan.wasserstein@uphs.upenn.edu)

 

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