COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PROFESSIONALISM OF FUTURE MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS AMONG THREE PRIVATE MEDICAL COLLEGES OF BANGLADESH

Objectives: Medical professionalism forms the bridge between doctors and society. Conserving and maintaining professionalism is obligatory for physician curriculum. The objective of this study was to scrutinize and compare the professionalism of future medical professionals among different medical institutes. Methodology: It was a cross-sectional study conducted on 332 year-III and year-IV MBBS students of session 2012-2013 from three private medical colleges in Bangladesh. Data was collected using a mixed validated instrument containing items under fundamental elements of professionalism, measured by 5-points Likert scale giving a maximum score of 220. Results: Among 332 respondents, 44% were male, 56% female; Year-III respondents constituted 51% and Year-IV constituted 49%. Mean professionalism scores for male and female were 176.21 and 175.33, while for Year-III and Year-IV were 174.96 and 176.50 respectively. No significant differences observed between gender and year of study. However, significant differences were noticed between year-IV male students among three medical colleges. Majority (83%) students were imprecise of professionalism. Conclusions: Lack of focus is a worry for professionalism. Educators should focus on fundamental elements of professionalism. KEYWORDS: Professionalism, Medical-student, Core-values, Comparisons, Bangladesh