Original article
E-professionalism: a new paradigm for a digital age

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Abstract

Issues related to emerging social web applications have created new questions regarding health professions student professionalism. Some of these questions are philosophically challenging for educators and are difficult to address without an evolving framework. In this paper, the authors define and elaborate on a new construct of e-professionalism. In particular, close attention is directed to how e-professionalism interfaces with and extends the traditional framework of professionalism by including attitudes and behaviors expressed in digital and oftentimes personal settings. The authors conclude by providing health professions educators and administrators with recommendations for addressing these emerging e-professionalism issues.

Section snippets

Examples of digital age professionalism issues

A University of Louisville nursing student has recently been the subject of much discussion with regard to professionalism in an online environment. The student published several blog posts to her MySpace account that, among other things, provided graphic details about her opinions and attitudes toward specific patients, abortion, and gun rights. Because of her online persona, many could judge her as disrespectful and uncaring toward patients. Fortunately, she did not identify patients by name

Personal lives in the digital public

As depicted before, the changing nature of social communications facilitated by newer web applications have further complicated what it means to exhibit professional behaviors and attitudes. Facebook, MySpace, Blogger, YouTube, Flickr, and Twitter are just a few of the emerging and popular web-based technologies that allow people to express themselves online. Often described as components of Web 2.0,14 these applications are inherently open and social in nature. The “openness” refers to not

E-professionalism defined

Attentiveness to online personas and the possible inclusion of attitudes and behaviors from private settings are two new primary considerations that may necessitate an expansion of the professionalism paradigm. These additional considerations lead us to the formal proposition of an e-professionalism construct. We define e-professionalism as the attitudes and behaviors (some of which may occur in private settings) reflecting traditional professionalism paradigms that are manifested through

Philosophical considerations

There is growing concern that professional students' online personas will become a bigger issue for schools, employers, and other professionals.25 This, in turn, evokes several philosophical questions pertaining to if and how online personas should be used and interpreted. Previous literature introduced numerous issues to consider when examining student behavior in online settings. Those issues included rights of privacy, duty of care, and several others related to professional school

Recommendations for educators

Defining the bounds of authority and responsibility of professional colleges, schools, and associations toward students in the Web 2.0 era is a difficult task, but one that is becoming increasingly relevant and necessary. Many educators at professional schools struggle with how best to answer those philosophical questions and respond to the new paradigm changes.

One of the key questions pertaining to e-professionalism has been “Should faculty or administrators monitor the online personas of

Conclusion

“(P)rofessional behaviors are defined by society, culture and generations.”30 As Internet applications evolve and mature, it is possible that culture will more readily accept online personas as separate from the “real life” individual. Perhaps, when the students of this generation join the workforce and become leaders in the field, they will change the culture so that online personas become immune from professionalism judgments. Conversely, however, the public and private personas may continue

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