Fostering professionalism through scaffolding in first year clinical placements

A crucial aspect of the teaching of professionalism relates to the provision of learning experiences that will promote the achievement of this affective learning domain. The development and trial of a learning opportunity to scaffold learning concepts of professionalism is described in this paper. Peer reviewed literature was used to construct a survey, administered to students (n=79). The scenarios for which there was student disagreement, or for which there was disagreement with literature provided a basis for tutorial discussions. Students attended a short clinical placement; subsequent post placement survey completion (n=35) focussed tutorial discussions on compilation of students' own understandings of professional behaviours. The scenarios developed could be used for other health sciences students; the approach is a model for affective domain learning in all professions.