Professional Formation is an online resource for teaching, learning, and assessing professionalism in health care education.
- Supported by a 2014 Arthur Vining Davis Foundations grant and a 2017 Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation grant
- Launched in mid-2020 with 14 interactive modules for learners including two modules for faculty
- Features include: over 190 videos, pre and post module tests gauging learners' change in perceptions, over 40 exercises and a sophisticated learning management system
Professional Formation Supports Professionalism Competency in Education
All major medical educational accrediting and professional organizations affirm that professionalism is a core competency. Professional Formation offers faculty and learners the resources for effective professionalism and professional formation curricula, as well as tools for assessment, remediation, and research. The Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC), comprised of six national associations of schools of health professions, in 2016 released a list of four core competencies including Values/Ethics for Interprofessional Practice, Roles/Responsibilities, Interprofessional Communication, and Teams and Teamwork. Each of those core competencies has eight to 10 sub-competencies, totaling 39. Eighty-two percent of the IPEC sub-competencies are supported by Professional Formation module learning goals.
Research Demonstrates the Value of Professional Formation
In the Professional Formation pilot program conducted under the aegis of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation grant from 2017 to 2020, learners completed over 2,100 pre and post module tests. Results indicated the learners' scores increased on average over 30 percent for certain modules reflecting a positive change in perceptions. More research studies are ongoing.
Module Integration
Professional Formation modules can be used with one professional discipline or across multiple disciplines as the modules have been written by interprofessionals and many of the videos have been recorded in an interprofessional environment. The authors of these modules bring many years of clinical and educational experience in helping learners grow personally and professionally. All modules have been reviewed by an interprofessional group. The authors have been reflective about what has promoted their own growth in these domains. In working through the content and exercises, learners will become more aware of basic principles and practices for their own profession as well as for professions of other healthcare providers.