Initial knowledge of medical professionalism among Chinese medical students

Background: Initial knowledge of professionalism among medical students is particularly important for designing effective professionalism curricula and for studying the change in the knowledge of professionalism. Aim: The study examined first-semester medical students' initial knowledge of important attributes of good doctors. Methods: Mixed methods were used to examine initial knowledge among first-semester students from a Chinese medical college. We used an open-ended survey to identify attributes of good doctors and grounded theory analysis to find emergent themes. We also used a close-ended survey to solicit students' responses to 50 attributes of good doctors and explorative and confirmatory factor analysis to examine underlying factors. Results: 973 students completed the open-ended survey while 1730 students completed the close-ended survey. Through grounded theory analysis, 24 subthemes and three themes that include Ethics, Skill, and Person, emerged from the data. Explorative and confirmatory factor analysis showed convergent results: 24 valid items and three factors that include Ethics, Skill, and Person were identified. Conclusion: The initial knowledge of medical professionalism among first-semester students involves approximately 24 important attributes within three major dimensions of Ethics, Skill, and Person, with an overwhelming emphasis on Ethics. It is neither sophisticated nor comprehensive, compared with specialists' professional knowledge.