The case for educating health care students in professionalism as the core content of interprofessional education

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Professional teams are becoming more central to health care as evidence emerges that effective teamwork enhances the quality of patient care. Currently, health care professionals are poorly prepared by their education for their roles on the team. In parallel, there are increasing demands from consumers for health care professionals to serve the interests of society and patients through engaging in effective professional partnerships. Professionalism for health care providers is now being defined as a commitment to standards of excellence in the practice of the profession that are designed primarily to serve the interests of the patient and to be responsive to the health needs of ..