A preliminary study to conceptualize professionalism in the field of veterinary medicine

INTRODUCTION[|]Although the concept of professionalism is widely used in all over the world, there is no clear definition that describes exactly what it is. This is thought to result from different meanings which are attributed to the concept of profession. The number of researches and publications on medical professionalism has increased rapidly in recent years. In this sources some definitions reveal a detailed list of keywords. Compared with medicine, veterinary medicine has still got limited studies on this subject. This research was carried out to determine how veterinarians conceptualize professionalism in the field of veterinary medicine.[¤]METHODS[|]This qualitative study was designed as an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The sample was consisted of veterinarians who have carried out their duties at the Veterinary School of Ankara University. The sampling strategy was purposive sampling. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews then content analysis was applied. During this process, internal and external consistencies were checked with an expert's help. As a result of the analysis the meaning units were created and classified. Results were shown in the tables, interpreted and then discussed.[¤]RESULTS[|]In this study it is found that veterinary and human medicines have many common terms for conceptualization of professionalism. Veterinary professionalism were conceptualized with similar approaches by experienced and inexperienced veterinarians. Ethics and moral values were expressed primarily and together in participant's approaches to this concept. The definition of good veterinarians is generally consistent with the definition of veterinary professionalism.[¤]DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION[|]Compared with medicine, veterinary medicine has still got limited studies about professionalizm. This research shows that veterinarians conceptialize professionalism by using some terms and explanations related to some values and desired behaviors of which many of them are also used for conceptialize medical professionalism. Among them ethics-moral values have been given priority. These values and behaviours are also refered for the definition of good veterinarian. There is no doubt that the meaning units; which were given in this study are not enough for the definition of veterinary professionalism. However, these units offer a good starting point for similar works to be done in the near future.[¤