The MedicalProfessionalism Project
A short film series about ethics and professionalism in healthcare

Brought to you by…

The goals of the Medical Professionalism Project are to:
Explore the elds of medicine through the lens of behavioral
science
Recognize the complex expectations and challenges of beinga healthcare provider
Provide tools for improving behavior, culture, andcommunication across the elds of medicine

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Offer a new way to tackle dif cult subject matters byengaging in the work of award-winning lmmakers andscientists.

The complete series includes 5-10 minute episodes, a robust web
platform with games, exercises, and resource lists.
In addition to online viewing, the episodes can be licensed individually, in bundles, or as acomplete series for use in classrooms, presentations, or grand rounds.

See episode topics below:
Introduction to Behavioral Economics
Social Norms
Distance from Money
Testing and Treatment
Burnout
Disclosing Mistakes
Con icts of Interest
Research
Inequities in Healthcare
Communication
Shared Decision-Making

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Maintaining Professionalism

Series Trailer

What People Are Saying

80% feel they are better able to participate in a
dialogue about what constitutes medicalprofessionalism after completing MPP.
73% say this series increased their knowledge/competence.
80% are better able to recognize unprofessional
behavior in themselves or others.

The Series

Episode 1 - Introduction
What are ‘fudge factors’ andhow do they relate to you as a
medical professional? Dan
Ariely’s research provides thebehavioral science foundation
for this series.

Dan Ariely is the James B. Duke Professor of Psychology andBehavioral Economics at Duke University. A distinguished author, Dan
has written several best-selling books, including Predictably Irrational,
The Upside of Irrationality, and The Honest Truth About Dishonesty. His
TED talks are world-renowned, with over 10 million views.

Episode 2 - Social Norms

How the medical team interacts with one another affects patient
outcomes. Creating a culture of respect is key.

Episode 3 - Distance From Money

Technology continues torevolutionize medicine. Recent
advancements, including
electronic health records andbilling systems, have increased
the distance between
healthcare providers and theeconomic consequences of
their decision-making.

“I worry that things like the cloning of notes, like the upcoding that goes on fairly ubiquitously, are creating
a culture where we haven’t stayed true and honest.”

Episode 4 - Testing and Treatment

Patients are asking for more.
Providers can do more. But
when is it too much?

“I think a lot of the time the inappropriateness of testing is driven by some earnest desire to avoid missingsomething.”Episode 5 - Burnout

Burnout rates continue to climb among healthcare providers. The
consequences are severe both for providers and their patients,
but small interventions can help.

Episode 6 - Disclosing Mistakes

The pressure providers feel tobe infallible is as real as it isunattainable — but honesty
about errors is meaningful for
all involved.

When physicians assume responsibility, apologize, and outline steps to prevent recurrence, patients whoexperience medical errors are less likely to see legal advice. — Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, 2009

Episode 7 - Con icts of Interest

Conflicts of interest affectalmost all healthcare workers,
yet we often fail to recognize
the factors that influence ourdecision-making.

fl“What’s best for the patient gets a little bit influenced by what’s easy, by what’s available, potentially bywhat I can charge for in my own office.”Episode 8 - Research

Medical research, in particular
human clinical trials, arechallenging and risky
endeavors. A high-profile casereveals the complications andperils of this work.

“He believed after discussions with the representatives from Penn that the worst that could happen in thetrial would be he would have flu-like symptoms for a week. I learned after Jesse’s death that Penn had
removed from the information they gave Jesse and me any reference to deaths of monkeys…”

Episode 9 - Inequities in Healthcare

Quality of care varies greatly
across economic, gender, racial,and ethnic lines (among others).
How can providers bring more
attention to these issues in theirown practices and work toaddress inequity?

“We are often trained on people who are lower-income people who don’t have health insurance or havepublic health insurance. Then, you’re supposed to apply that to the general population.”Episode 10 - Communication

Communication is a critical part of patient care, but it has been
historically undervalued in medical training, leaving providers lessequipped to handle difficult conversations.

Episode 11 - Shared Decision-Making

Shared decision-making has yet
to be widely implemented orchampioned in medicine.
Though there are hurdles anddrawbacks to this framework,
engaging patients in their
medical decisions ismeaningful.

A 2012 study found that fewer than half of patients believe their physician understands their goals andconcerns. — Health Affairs, 2014

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Episode 12 - Maintaining Professionalism

The Hippocratic OathMay I always act so as to preserve thenest traditions of my calling...

Professionalism requires maintenance! In this final episode, we review
strategies for sustaining professional behavior long-term.

Next Steps
Integrate into classrooms, grand rounds, and other team meetings orengage online to utilize games, exercises, and resources.

Pricing is determined by number of viewers and needs of access.
We attempt make the lms as accessible as possible – discounts
available. For more information email
contact@professionalismproject.com.

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