Hiroshima University Hospital, 1-2-3 Kasumi Minami, Hiroshima, Hiroshima, 734-8551, Japan.
Gifu University, Medical Education Development Center, 1-1 Yanagido Gifu, Gifu, 501-1194, Japan.
BMC Med Educ. 2017 Dec 29;17(1):267. doi: 10.1186/s12909-017-1107-9.
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.
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.
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).
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.
由于日本出生率下降和社会老龄化，牙科保健师的角色和责任不断扩大。为了提高口腔护理和治疗水平，医疗专业人员需要在整个职业生涯中不断追求医学专业精神。虽然概念化专业精神对于卫生专业人员的教育至关重要，但日本尚未定义或充分研究牙科保健领域的专业精神。本研究的目的是调查牙科保健师对专业精神构成要素的看法，以及影响他们看法的因素。
对日本的 18 名牙科保健师进行了半结构化访谈。根据 Van de Camp 等人描述的医学专业精神概念，对转录数据进行了主题分析。
本研究中的牙科保健师认为有 70 个构成要素，这些要素被归类为与专业精神相关的八项核心能力。这些能力进一步分为三个主要主题：个人内在、人际和公众专业精神。有三个社会历史因素影响了他们对构成要素的看法，即学术背景（大学或技术学校）、之前提供的任何口腔护理背景（大学医院或牙科诊所），以及他们在从事牙科实践时与同事的社会互动（牙科团队或跨专业团队）。此外，根据他们的社会历史背景，牙科保健师将自己视为学者（大学毕业生）、促进者（大学医院）、熟练工匠（牙科诊所）或合作者（跨专业团队）。
牙科保健师对专业精神的看法是多维度和依赖于背景的，因此教育课程和继续教育计划需要纳入文化和专业特定的元素。特别是，本研究中描述的牙科保健领域专业精神的概念化可以成为加强本科教育和临床培训的起点。
