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Professional behavior should be a prerequisite for practicing medicine.
Being a medical professional doesn’t necessarily translate to professional behavior on the job. In a profession that involves so much patient interaction and strong people skills, it’s important to learn the proper ways of handling various situations that may arise. After all, your level of professionalism can determine your success in medical school, landing a job, and maintaining healthy relationships with your co-workers and patients.
Here are different ways to practice professional behaviors in various contexts to ensure you maintain a positive image and environment:
Importance of professional behavior in the operating room
When it comes to professional behavior in medicine, the emphasis is usually placed on the doctor-patient relationship. However, it’s just as important that doctors strive towards the same level of professionalism amongst their peers–especially when in the midst of a medical environment.
For example, because medicine continues to be a male-dominated profession, there are often instances of “locker room talk” that take place even in the heat of the operating room. Crass and degrading comments towards women not only make female doctors uncomfortable, they cause the doctor making them to lose respect and compromise the reputation of the institution and medical profession as a whole.
Even those attracted to the medical profession because of its direct, logical, and masculine dynamic have no tolerance for disrespect. One student was so disgusted by the comments she overheard her male mentor say, she will no longer go to him for medical advice or recommend him to others. Whether you are male or female, you must ask yourself: is one flippant comment made to impress one person worth compromising your entire reputation?
How to express your complaints in medical school
Confiding in your fellow students about the challenges of medical school can be extremely therapeutic and help alleviate your emotional burdens. In fact, the worst thing you can do under stress is keep things to yourself. That said, there comes a point when venting can become self-destructive and counterproductive. Releasing negative thoughts and letting them go is one thing; dwelling on negative thoughts and creating a toxic environment is another.
As one student explains, “Although it’s okay (and important) to talk about our struggles and misery, don’t let it evolve into being angry at certain people or circumstances in life because they are often out of our control. Let our frustrations dissipate aimlessly, but do not focus it down onto a specific person or thing because it becomes very easy to hurt someone.”
So how do you strike this balance? For example, when expressing your frustrations about one physician to another, try to keep your comments anonymous and vague. Also, if a co-worker gets under your skin, trying making a list of all their positive qualities to help you keep things in perspective. Most importantly, know when to stop.focusing on what’s bothering you. Release the emotions and leave them behind rather than carrying them around with you. As they say, be a thermostat, not a thermometer–in other words, don’t simply read the temperature; set it.
How to ensure your medical practice has integrity
Whether you are currently employed by a medical institution or are deciding where to apply, it’s important to seek a medical practice with integrity. This is not only important to your long-term happiness and success, but will also help you avoid potential lawsuits and other repercussions. The warning signs are not always easy to detect, which is why it’s important to know what qualities to look for and what red flags to avoid.
For example, pay attention to how the physicians treat each other and their patients. Do they exude a sense of warmth and compassion or cold condescension? Are they humble and give others credit? Are they open-minded and willing to learn, consistently seeking out opportunities to do so? Furthermore, do you get a sense they are honest with their patients about all their options, even if that means less money spent?
In order to keep your integrity radar detector sharp, you must first be resolved to practice medicine with integrity yourself. Make integrity and professional behavior a more important deciding factor in where to work than personal ambition, salary, or prestige. At the end of the day, true success is defined not by what you do but how you do it.
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