(307) Exploring Discrepancies in Perceptions of Professionalism

Objective : To investigate the potential variance in the perception of professional behaviors between preceptors and learners utilizing an adapted Situational Judgement Test survey.

Methods: This survey included a series of five scenarios with four possible responses each (20 responses total). These scenarios were mapped to corresponding subdomains of the Reliability, Responsibility, and Accountability domain of the previously validated Professional Assessment Tool (PAT). The survey was sent to current pharmacy students, residents, and preceptors. The analyses was conducted in R version 4.3.2. A Fisher’s exact test and Wilcoxon test was performed to explore each response to the five case questions.

Results: The survey was distributed to 1402 individuals, with a response rate of 27%, and completion rate of 86%, resulting in 330 completed surveys. One hundred sixty-three preceptors and 148 learners responded. There were significant differences between preceptors versus learners in work experience, social media usage, and degrees prior to pharmacy school. One response related to undertaking activities in a self-directed manner showed a significant difference in perception between learners and preceptors, with more preceptors finding the response to the professionalism scenario effective (43.8% vs 57.6% p=.03). While no statistically significant differences were observed in other scenarios and response choices, there were noticeable trends towards significance indicating potential variations in perception among four of the five subdomains.

Conclusions: There appears to be potential differences between learner and preceptor perception of professionalism in the domain of Reliability, Responsibility, and Accountability of the PAT. Understanding these differences can inform targeted interventions or educational strategies to bridge the perception gap and promote consistent understanding and application of professionalism standards among learners and preceptors.