Redefining professionalism to improve health equity in competency based medical education (CBME): A qualitative study.

Purpose: There is a pressing need to address all forms of anti-oppression in medicine, given systemic harm and inequities in care and outcomes for patients and health care professionals from equity-deserving groups. Revising definitions of professionalism used in competency-based education can incorporate new professional competencies for physicians to identify and eliminate the root causes of these inequities. This study redefined the CanMEDS definition to centre perspectives of equity-deserving groups.

Methods: In this qualitative study there were two phases. The authors conducted individual semi-structured interviews with participants representing equity-deserving population groups to understand their perspectives on and iteratively build a definition of medical professionalism. Then, the authors undertook a consensus-building process, a modified nominal group technique, using focus groups with community members from equity-deserving groups and healthcare providers to verify findings and arrive at an updated definition of medical professionalism.

Results: Four main themes were identified: 1) healthcare at the margins; 2) equity-oriented domains of professionalism; 3) structural professionalism; and 4) supporting improved professionalism. These themes were incorporated into a consensus-based definition of medical professionalism, with a focus on anti-oppression, anti-racism, accountability, safety, and equity.

Conclusions: The authors propose a new definition of medical professionalism that embeds anti-oppression, including anti-racism, as critical competencies in clinical practice and education.