Medical students' perception of professionalism: a qualitative study from Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Professionalism has emerged as a core competency for the medical professionals globally. However, few studies have been reported from the Gulf region to assess the situation and take steps to promote professionalism. AIM: To elicit the views of final year medical students, interns, and residents to explore what professionalism meant to them, what problems they encountered, and what can be done to promote professionalism. METHOD: We adopted qualitative approach including 10 focus group discussions. The proceedings were tape-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed independently by two researchers. RESULTS: The respondents admitted that that they were deficient in the acquisition of professional values. According to them, professionalism was not taught or assessed. They followed "hidden curriculum". They considered very few teachers as positive role models. The deficiencies could be attributed to negative role modeling by the faculty or deficiencies in the curriculum such as lack of rich clinical experiences, limited interaction with health team, and absence of feedback besides organizational issues. CONCLUSION: The students' views should be tallied with other sources of evidences. Nevertheless, they have policy implications on faculty recruitment, development, curriculum reform, and an organizational culture that supports professionalism.