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The importance of professionalism as a core value has always been recognized at The Ohio State University (OSU) Medical Center. In September 2002, however, a concerted effort began to be more fully established to create a culture of professionalism. At that time, the Associate Dean for Clinical Education and Outreach, James Hoekstra, MD, appointed Linda Stone, MD and Andy Hudson, EdD to chair a committee to respond to the Association of American Medical Colleges recommendation on evaluation of student professionalism in the Medical Student Performance Evaluations (MSPE). The two began immediately gathering data and reviewing the literature.

Then in May 2003, Fred Sanfilippo, M.D., Ph.D., Dean, College of Medicine and Public Health and Senior Vice President and Executive Dean for Health Sciences, at OSU Medical Center, officially charged a Professionalism Task Force to take a broader view rather than just react to the MSPE recommendations. He decided the time was right to formalize the vision for teaching professionalism in the College of Medicine and the Medical Center. His commitment to creating a culture of professionalism that matched the academic strengths of the Medical Center was evident.

To demonstrate the priority the Medical Center placed on this initiative, Dr. Sanfilippo named Paul Weber, MD Professor and Chair of Ophthalmology and Associate VP and Vice Dean for Medical Education, to head the Task Force. He also named a blue ribbon task force comprised of 28 individuals from the College of Medicine, Business, and Law and the School of Nursing. Members included two associate deans, three assistant deans, nine clinicians, two basic scientists, a nurse, two business school representatives, two college lawyers, a law professor, three residents, three medical students, a graduate fellow, and three staff members. The Professionalism Task Force then was given one year to explore avenues that would lead to a best practice model for professionalism. Dean Sanfilippo's charge regarding the education of professionalism at the College of Medicine was to:

Identify current framing issues to include definitions, problems, and goals
Recommend solutions through policies and procedures
Establish evaluation criteria, outcome measures, and recommendations for on-going review and monitoring of implemented policies and procedures with feedback mechanisms to decision makers and stake holders
Incorporate the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) guidelines for the preparation of the Medical Student Performance Evaluations regarding professionalism and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) competencies for residents as they pertain to interpersonal communications and professionalism.

Based on this charge, the Professionalism Task Force began its work to create a medical environment in which professional behavior is the norm, where respect for the individual is paramount, and where all members of the healthcare team are valued for their knowledge and their compassion. Teaching professionalism is the first step in developing a culture of professionalism. Ideally, professionalism should be the hallmark of the medical environment, but reaching the ideal and maintaining the culture are a continuous process. To this end, this Web site is dedicated and will continue to be updated as the Professionalism Council and its committees develop new programs and policies.