Ethical and Professional Requirements

Ethical and Professional Requirements

Ethical and professional behaviors are the foundation of medicine. As a medical student, you are about to embark on a career which embraces some of the highest human ideals. Society will place great expectations on your personal character. Professionalism begins from day one of medical school.

• Students are expected to put forth their best effort towards academic success and clinical competency including regular class attendance and faithful and diligent discharge of all academic and clinical duties.
• Students are expected to demonstrate honesty and integrity in all aspects of their education and be considerate and respectful in their interactions with patients, staff, faculty, and peers.
• Each student will dress and behave as a responsible member of the medical profession seeking to bring comfort and reassurance to those he/she may serve. Each third and fourth year student is expected to wear a white coat with his/her name embroidered on it. Also, first and second year students should wear their white coats when they have contact with patients.
• Students should seek feedback on their own performance and are expected to accept ownership of mistakes and respond to constructive criticism by appropriate modification of their behavior.
• Students are expected to participate in the process of evaluating their teachers, courses, and educational experience.
• All patients deserve to be treated without prejudice. It is unethical for a student to refuse to participate in the care of a person based on race, religion, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, age, or sexual preference.
• The patient's right to the confidentiality of his or her medical record is a fundamental tenet of medical care. The discussion of problems or diagnosis of a patient by professional staff/medical students in public violates patient confidentiality and is unethical.
• Professional relations among all members of the medical community should be marked with collegiality and respect. It is unethical and harmful for a student to disparage without good evidence the professional competence, knowledge, qualifications, or services of a colleague to staff, students, or patients. It is also unethical to imply by word, gesture, or deed that a patient has been poorly managed or mistreated by a colleague without tangible evidence.