Rescuing medical professionalism: Could “cup-of-coffee conversations” do more good than committees and letters-to-the-file?

On Becoming a Healer

Medical students may be subject to professionalism review by committees, most commonly for “unreliability” such as not responding to emails, falling behind on compliance requirements, showing up late for assignments and so on. Then they hit the wards, and frequently experience mistreatment by residents and attendings (many of whom also don’t answer their emails etc…), most commonly in the form of public humiliation. This seems like a recipe for cynicism and burnout, rather than growth as a professional. In this episode we talk with our guests, experts in a more nurturing approach, about alternatives. We hear about “cup-of-coffee conversations” and other relationship building approaches to cultivating civility, collegiality, and professionalism.