What is your personal definition of professionalism? When does it need to be used? Why is it necessary in the medical field?

Professionalism is the adherence to a set of values, principles and standards that are characterized by behavior that displays respect for others, integrity and accountability. Professionalism involves being ethical in all dealings with clients, colleagues and other stakeholders. It is an attitude or outlook that indicates commitment to excellence, responsibility and an understanding that one’s professional reputation must be maintained.

Professionalism can be used any time it is important to demonstrate respect for others as well as creating trust and maintaining professionalism in relationships. For example, professionalism should be exhibited when interacting with customers or colleagues in the workplace, attending client meetings or presentations or interacting on social media platforms. Professionalism also applies to carrying out duties such as handling customer service issues, dealing with complaints and resolving problems efficiently.

In the medical field specifically, it is essential for healthcare professionals to maintain a high level of professionalism at all times due to the sensitive nature of their work (Gandhi et al., 2018). Patients rely on doctors’ expertise not only medically but also ethically; they expect their medical provider to behave professionally while caring for them (Blandy & Blandy-Holt 2015). As such healthcare practitioners need cultivate a sense of empathy along with showing respect towards patients even when making difficult decisions (Aronow et al., 2017). Furthermore good communication skills are imperative for building trust between doctor-patient relationships which helps ensure safe care outcomes (Leggat et al., 2016) . Therefore exhibiting appropriate levels of compassion combined with strong communication skills conveys positive messages about professional conduct from both sides creating an atmosphere where patients feel comfortable expressing themselves openly which ultimately leads to better patient care outcomes (Gutmann & Breslin 2019).

All professions have different expectations when it comes down to what constitutes professional behaviour although there are some core values commonly held across many fields including punctuality reliability , self-motivation ,creativity , honesty , loyalty and initiative taking (Dornetto 2017 ). Ultimately while most people understand basic etiquette this does not guarantee they will display true professionalism unless they make conscious effort into considering how their behaviours affect those around them . This is particularly pertinent within the medical field where professional behaviours play such an integral role in providing quality healthcare services so it is important that practitioners remain consistent adhering to these values even under challenging circumstances .