Dental hygienists’ perceptions of professionalism are multidimensional and context-dependent: a qualitative study in Japan

Autor: Rintaro Imafuku, Toshinobu Takemoto, Taiji Obayashi, Yukiko Nagatani, Tadayuki Waki, Tetsuji Ogawa
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2017
Předmět:
Adult
020205 medical informatics
Attitude of Health Personnel
media_common.quotation_subject
education
lcsh:Medicine
Pilot Projects
Context (language use)
02 engineering and technology
Interpersonal communication
Competencies
Dental hygiene education in Japan
Education
03 medical and health sciences
Professional Competence
Professional Role
0302 clinical medicine
Japan
stomatognathic system
Super-aging society
Terminology as Topic
Perception
0202 electrical engineering
electronic engineering
information engineering
Humans
030212 general & internal medicine
Curriculum
Qualitative Research
media_common
Medical education
lcsh:LC8-6691
Cultural Characteristics
lcsh:Special aspects of education
lcsh:R
Core competency
General Medicine
University hospital
humanities
stomatognathic diseases
Professionalism
Dental Hygienists
Psychology
Dental hygienist
Research Article
Intrapersonal communication
Qualitative research
Zdroj: BMC Medical Education, Vol 17, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2017)
BMC Medical Education
ISSN: 1472-6920
DOI: 10.1186/s12909-017-1107-9
Popis: Background Due to the declining birth rate and aging of Japanese society, the roles and responsibilities of dental hygienists are continuously expanding. Medical professionalism needs to be pursued continuously throughout one’s career in order to improve dental care and treatment. Although conceptualising professionalism is essential to the education of health professionals, professionalism in the field of dental hygiene has not been defined or adequately examined in Japan. The purposes of this study are to investigate dental hygienists’ perceptions of the constituent elements of professionalism and the factors affecting their perceptions. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 dental hygienists in Japan. Drawing on the conceptualisation of professionalism in medicine described by Van de Camp et al., the transcribed data were thematically analysed. Results The dental hygienists in this study perceived 70 constituent elements that were categorised into eight core competencies related to professionalism. These competencies were further classified into three main themes: intrapersonal, interpersonal, and public professionalism. There were three sociohistorical factors that affected their perceptions of the constituent elements, namely academic background (university or technical school), the contexts of any previously provided dental care (university hospital or dental clinic), and their social interactions with their colleagues during their engagement in dental practice (dental team or interprofessional team). Moreover, according to their sociohistorical backgrounds, the dental hygienists saw themselves variously as scholars (university graduates), facilitators (university hospital), skillful artisans (dental clinic), or collaborators (interprofessional team). Conclusions Dental hygienists’ perceptions of professionalism are multidimensional and context-dependent, so culture- and professional-specific elements need to be included in educational curricula and continuing professional development programmes. In particular, the conceptualisation of professionalism in the field of dental hygiene as described in this study can be a springboard for enhancing undergraduate education and clinical training. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12909-017-1107-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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